


Easily

by Malecsflash



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Barry Allen & Iris West Friendship, Barry Allen is sunshine, Bisexual Oliver Queen, Fluff and Angst, Gay Barry Allen, M/M, Olivarry is my life basically, Oliver Queen being a drama, Oliver is a actually sappy as hell, Theres just a lot of angst because i love angst, also i love fluff so these two will also be cupcakes but only with each other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:07:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 44,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27633859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malecsflash/pseuds/Malecsflash
Summary: Barry and Oliver have had a tough break in their lives. Between their superhero alteregos and constantly having to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, they never get to have a moment to feel normal. But... what if they could feel normal together? But things aren't always easy for them and when things get hard, they just have to try to not push the other away.Set post Invasion, with lots of changes.
Relationships: Barry Allen & Oliver Queen, Barry Allen/Oliver Queen
Comments: 16
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

Everything up to the Invasion! crossover is canon, except for the ships. So, basically, Felicity & Oliver were never together, and Barry & Iris were never together. Let’s go ahead and assume that Oliver did briefly have feelings for Felicity but they never dated, and he soon came to see her as a sister. Let’s also assume that Barry is openly gay, and never dated Patty, either. The timeline for both shows will change severely for reasons that will make sense as the story goes on. We don’t hate on Iris, either. Savitar doesn’t exist (yet?) since Barry isn’t in love with anyone as deeply as he loved Iris on the show, leading to Savitar’s creation. Oliver’s timeline is also really different. I had to rewatch all of season 4 and 5 of Arrow just to figure out how to play this. So, to sum up, Oliver isn’t mayor, he still runs Queen Consolidated and never sold it to Ray Palmer, but Ray’s storyline stays the same, he just ended up working with Oliver instead of buying it from him. Oliver has Felicity working with him at QC as well as Thea, to help with the work load. William is still in the picture, but Samantha doesn’t die because I hate Adrian Chase and so he doesn’t exist to the same extent in my universe. Also, the only new recruit he has is Curtis, because honestly, I don’t like Renee that much and it would be an effort to write for Rory and that random white chick who tried to be badass by pretending to be the new Black Canary and then just ended up dying or something idk. You’ll see how it goes. Lmao. I’m very chaotic, I know, but I hope you enjoy this. I enjoy both angst and happy endings. You’re in for a ride, my sweet, sweet Olivarry shippers.  
\-----------------------

Barry, Diggle and Oliver stood side by side, waving off Sara and Ray as they got back on the Waverider and disappeared into some other century. “There she goes... off to her spaceship – time travelling as if it’s totally normal,” Diggle began, his voice light, humorous. 

“Well, John, it’s like you said; normal sort of went out the window when this one arrived,” Oliver said whilst clearing his throat, the two smiling as they looked at Barry. Barry, in question chuckled sheepishly – albeit slightly embarrassed. 

Diggle looked at Barry, his expression somehow relaxed. “I may never understand you man,” he started, holding out his hand for Barry. Oliver looked nervously over at the two. It wasn’t easy knowing how Barry went back in time and changed the past, in turn changing Diggle’s present, but he hoped it would settle down. “But you’re one of the best men I know.” 

Barry looked surprised. He didn’t expect this kind of reaction from Diggle after what he did to him. “Thanks, Dig,” he said, shaking his hand. He was nervous. “So... does this mean you forgive me for what I did?” 

Oliver couldn’t even bear to look at Barry at this point, or even the interaction between him and Diggle. It was almost like an overload of emotion. He supported both of them, but he wanted things to turn out this way. He wasn’t used to life handing him these little indulgences of things working out the way he wanted. 

“Barry, it’s like I keep telling this guy,” Diggle said with a nod at Oliver over his shoulder. “You have to forgive yourself.” He smiled at the younger man, knowing that his earnest eyes and nervous demeanor meant that Barry never intended to hurt him in any way. 

“Yeah,” Barry replied, with a small nod. He couldn’t bring himself to smile because he still felt guilty for what his actions did for the other man. 

Diggle smiled at him, though. He clapped him on the arm good-naturedly. “Good luck,” he told him, before taking his leave. 

Barry nodded again. “Thanks,” he said. As Diggle left, Oliver stepped closer to Barry, who instantly felt more relaxed at having Oliver closer to him. It was an instant effect the older man had on the speedster. He didn’t understand it. But he enjoyed it. “Well,” he started. “We should do this more often.” 

“What?” Oliver responded. He knew Barry had good intentions behind the statement but it momentarily took him back, regardless. 

Barry shook his head with a smile. “Get together, I mean,” he explained as the two of them chuckled. 

Oliver just smiled at him – a rare occurrence for his features, but something he found himself easily capable of doing around the younger man. “I don’t know if the world could take it,” and in some way, he meant his words deeper than what he implied. 

“Without the world being threatened, I mean,” Barry said, his nerves relaxing more as his back and forth with Oliver flowed. 

Oliver considered this a moment and said, “If the world wasn’t being threatened, what would we do?” And he looked at Barry. He really looked at Barry. And Barry looked back at him. There was a sparkle in Oliver’s eyes that Barry felt himself falling into. They were flirting. The way they always did so casually, without there being any actual implication behind the words. And the words always came to them so easily when they were with each other. There was never any awkwardness. It was always so easy with Barry. Oliver used to warn himself to be careful with his words and actions around the speedster. He never wanted to have any reason to be worried that he could fall for Barry Allen. But right now, he didn’t want to worry. He had just saved the world with the man in front of him. He didn’t want to be afraid anymore. 

“I have some ideas,” Barry said with a small, hopeful smile. He shoved his hands awkwardly into his pocket as he looked up at Oliver. He wasn’t a stupid person. He graduated from college early with honors. He was aware of how easily he was enraptured by Oliver Queen’s presence. He just never wanted to let himself feel anything because of how much the older man closed himself off to any semblance of emotion. 

Oliver felt himself warming up from the inside out. Easily. It was always easy around Barry. He was tired of wasting time. Tired of feeling like he always had to have everything under control. For once, he wanted to see if things could flow, without interruption, and without any extra hindrances. “By all means, lead the way,” he said, gesturing for Barry to move so he could follow. He would follow him anywhere. Trust made you do some crazy things, and Oliver trusted Barry with every bone in his body. Easily. 

Barry led the way to the Star Lab van. If they were about to do this – about to hang out with each other like their lives could be normal, he was going to do it the most normal way he could. He opened the passenger door for Oliver – he was a gentleman. He was also trying to flirt in the most subtle way he knew how, and if this made Oliver smile (which it did) it would be worth the cheesy shot. 

“You wanna tell me where we’re going?” Oliver asked, as Barry drove through the city. 

Barry shrugged with a sneaky smile. “You’ll find out soon enough, won’t you?” He turned up the music on the fancy radio system that Cisco had installed into the van, and let the music flow softly through the car. 

Oliver didn’t say anything to this, he just shook his head with a smile after looking at Barry for a moment. It really would be so easy for him to fall for this man – if he just let himself do it. The two fell into a comfortable silence. Oliver just allowed himself to watch the city move by as he rested his head back on the seat. He’d never had a moment to just feel relieved that the weight of the world wasn’t on his shoulders. With Barry, it felt like the other man took some of that weight for himself, never letting Oliver carry it alone. 

They arrived at a local bar several minutes later. Barry parked the van and shut off the engine. “You wanted normal, right?” Barry said, looking at him with a smirk. 

Oliver looked at the bar through the windshield. He looked back at the other man with a nod of approval, making his expression more serious for a moment before saying, “Normal.” 

The two exited the van and walked side by side into the bar. They found empty chairs towards the back which they sat on. “So...” Barry started after they ordered two beers. “We should probably talk about the elephant in the room.” 

Oliver panicked for a moment as he took a sip of his beer. Was he that obvious? 

“The fact that you still refuse to believe that I can beat you,” Barry continued with a big smile on his face. Oliver rolled his eyes. 

“And what gives you that impression?” he asked him, blue eyes bearing into green. The two feeling sparks fly between them. 

Barry chuckled. “Maybe the fact that you haven’t told anyone that you tried to train me twice, and I beat you – both times.” 

Oliver huffed a laugh as he took another swig of his beer. “Maybe you just... you know what. I don’t deny it, I just don’t... accept it,” he said decidedly. 

“Right, right,” Barry said with a small laugh, taking a swig of his own beer bottle. “I think you’re in denial.” 

Oliver shook his head as he took another sip. “I’m just saying, next time, I'm gonna get you.” 

Barry’s eyes were focused on Oliver, absorbing every inch of the man that he could see. Drinking him in. He couldn’t understand what it was about him that made him always feel so light. Barry smirked as he responded, “I’m just saying, I beat you twice.” 

“The first time was a tie,” Oliver objected, his eyebrows furrowing. 

“And the second time?” Barry said, raising his own eyebrows with his ever-growing smirk. 

“There were no witnesses the second time,” Oliver replied. Barry chuckled as they both took a sip of beer. 

Barry put his bottle down and leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Super-speed arrow duels... our lives aren’t exactly normal. 

Oliver put his bottle down, too. He looked at Barry and said, “I told Kara that I was looking to reclaim some normal.” His eyes bore into Barry’s. The intensity of the moment became pregnant with the possibilities of how life could feel normal for either of them. 

Barry swallowed hard. The feeling of having Oliver so close to him, in a setting so... normal was unsettling. It was everything he could have had if his life wasn’t so complicated. If Oliver’s life wasn’t so complicated. Things didn’t work out for guys like them. They had to carry the world on their shoulders. They had to be the ones who watched everyone else have normal. 

“And how would you do that?” Barry finally said. “How would you reclaim some normal?” 

Oliver shrugged slightly and turned back to the front. He circled the top of his bottle with his thumb as he considered his next words. He could feel Barry watching him; trying to decipher what he was thinking. “This is normal,” he said slowly. He turned to Barry at last, looking at him, almost shy. “Right?” 

Barry felt suddenly overwhelmed by the direction this conversation seemed to be heading in. It was a direction neither of them needed to state. It was something inherently obvious that grew between them each time they were together. This seemed explosive, and he wasn’t sure if it were in a good way or not. 

Barry nodded his head. “Right, yeah,” he said as he, too, turned to the front, taking a sip of his beer, not feeling the effects of the alcohol flooding through his system, but feeling like he needed something steady to hold onto. 

Oliver kept his eyes on him, though. If Barry wasn’t looking at him while he spoke, it was definitely easier, but hard regardless. He wanted to keep going, though. He needed to keep going. “So...” he started slowly. “Maybe we could reclaim normal together... with moments like this.” 

Barry turned to him, his eyes showing confusion, but more predominantly showing hope. “What are you trying to say, Ollie?” 

Oliver looked almost bashful. It was a refreshing change for Barry, as he always felt like he was the bashful one in their friendship. “I guess... I guess I’m asking you out, Barry,” he said with a small smile, his blue eyes big and honest, looking into Barry’s with the most adorable expression that Barry had ever seen on him. 

Barry didn’t speak. He couldn’t. It wasn’t his fault, either. He was momentarily in shock by the honesty radiating from Oliver. He was also surprised the world hadn’t imploded on this moment the way it ruined most things for both of them. It allowed them this little indulgence. And if it allowed them this moment, would it allow them more? 

“I mean,” Oliver began again, quickly, suddenly worried that he read too much into the situation to such an extent that he imagined Barry’s feelings for him. “I mean we don’t have to – I mean you don’t have to if you don’t want to. It’s just – after seeing how easily we could have died in the past few days... knowing what’s out there... it makes me believe that somethings can just... be,” he looked up at Barry and saw the other man just watching him, a soft smile playing on his face. 

“I thought I was the one who rambled here, huh?” Barry began. “Of course I want to go out with you, Ollie,” Barry said with a laugh. “I think I’ve been ready to go out with you since the day I lied about investigating a dead body in Star City and you hated my guts.” 

Oliver huffed and took a sip of his beer, though he was smiling. “I didn’t hate your guts,” he claimed. 

Barry’s eyebrows shot up at that. “Oh, really, Ollie? You were ready to kill me when Felicity kidnapped me to save your life,” he laughed as he took a sip of his own beer. 

Oliver shook his head, his finger wagging as he explained further. “No, no, no. I was just weary of you,” he said. 

“Righhhht,” Barry said, laughing. 

“No, I’m serious!” Oliver said his voice rising slightly in the way it did when he was actually happy, and joking around. “I thought you had feelings for Felicity! And I thought I had feelings for Felicity then. Well... I did, but that’s a different story. Plus, you can’t blame me for being worried that this random adorable science guy knew my secret.” 

Barry smile faded slightly, though it was almost imperceptible. Too bad Oliver knew him too well to have not picked it up. “Right. Well, I stand corrected. You didn’t like me,” Barry said, taking a swig of his bottle. 

Oliver looked at him a moment. “I like you now, though,” he said. Barry turned to him. Their eyes met and something more changed between them. It was never going to be the same between them now, no matter what happened. Barry said nothing, he just looked at Oliver, waiting. Oliver knew it was his cue to speak. So, he placed his bottle on the counter softly before turning in his seat to fully face Barry. “Bare, I think I've changed like six times since we met. I’ve been with so many people in my life, felt things for so many of them. But... you and I...” he tried to find the words. Words were always Barry’s forte. This was a struggle for him, and Barry knew it, so he reached out his hand, and held Oliver’s that sat in his lap. Oliver’s hands were winded in each other, grasping hard as if he were trying to force himself to keep still. Barry placed his hand on both of Oliver’s, the warmth of his touch spreading through him, filling him, encouraging him to keep going. Oliver looked into Barry’s eyes. “The way you and I move... the way we talk... and blend together so easily... Barry – I've never had that with anyone. You make me feel things I have never felt in my life. You make me want to be better – in fact, you have made me better. As far as normal goes, as long as I have you in my life, that’s the best version of normal that I could have. Even if... you know... it’s not as normal as Dig would like,” he said with a chuckle, at which Barry chuckled too. “I just know I want to hold on to whatever I feel when I’m with you for as long as possible.” 

Barry took a deep breath as Oliver finished. “Wow,” he said. He turned to the front of the bar again. 

Oliver, looking affronted tilted his head at Barry in confusion. “That’s... all you have to say?” 

Barry, looked at Oliver, an amused smile on his face. “Well, yeah,” he said, a playful glimmer in his eyes. “I mean, those are more words than I’ve ever heard from you in the five – six? Six years we’ve known each other so yeah, I need a moment to absorb it all.” 

“Bare,” Oliver said huffing out another short laugh. He reached out a hand to place on Barry’s arm. 

Barry simply looked from Oliver’s hand on his arm up to the man it belonged to. He placed his other hand over Oliver’s. “I want to try this version of normal with you, too,” he said softly, a small smile on his lips. 

Oliver smiled back. He took back his hand and turned to the front of the bar, too. “Alright, but this doesn’t count as our first date, okay?” he said with a smirk. “Oliver Queen would never take a date to a bar of all places.” 

Barry started laughing softly. The sound was like music to Oliver’s ears. “You did not just refer to yourself in third person,” he said, still laughing. 

“Oh yeah,” Oliver said, nodding seriously. “And I mean it, too.” 

Barry smiled, sobering up from his laugh. He looked at Oliver as he said, “Okay, then where are you taking me?” 

Oliver looked back at Barry. “Well, this is just assuming you’re agreeing to go out with me?” 

Barry playfully shoved Oliver with his shoulder. “Of course, you idiot. I don’t think I’m capable of saying no to you.” 

This time, it was Oliver who looked at Barry with a playful grin on his face. “You sure about that? Because I can recall several moments where you have said no to me.” 

Barry shook his head, already feeling the argument rising in this throat. “Oh my god, it doesn’t count when we’re on mission, Ollie, and I know you’re thinking about that whole thing with Kendra and Carter, but you have to admit that was a little excessive letting her get trained like that,” he blurted out in one breath. 

“Right, right,” Oliver said, his smirk still on his face as he took a sip of his beer. “Guess we aren’t counting missions, then.” 

Barry nodded. “That’s right. So, back on topic. Where are you taking me?” 

Oliver looked at him with the softest expression Barry had ever seen on him. “I guess that depends,” he started, searching his eyes for any hesitance or any possibility that the speedster would say no to him. “Would you be willing to run 600 miles for me? It is a little hard getting to and fro Star City to Central when you aren’t the fastest man alive, you know.” 

Barry leaned in, as close as he could without actually touching his face with Oliver’s. He smiled, deep and honest and true. Easily. “For you? I’d run to the end of the world.” 

Oliver smiled back. It was impossible not to. His face almost hurt from the way Barry made it lift so easily. “You’re kind of cheesy, you know that?” he said in a whisper. 

Barry shrugged, not leaning back or moving away. “Get used to it,” he said in a whisper back. “Besides, you’re not any less cheesy yourself, you know.” 

Oliver looked down, bashful and smiling. It was like he was a goddamn sixteen-year-old again. “I guess you’re right.” He made the mistake of looking from Barry’s eyes to his lips. He licked his own unconsciously. “Would you maybe consider getting out of here?” 

Barry swallowed nervously. He looked at Oliver’s tongue sliding across his lips, wetting them, making them so pink that it was actually hard to look away without wanting to move in and press his own to them. Yet, he moved back anyways. “God, yes, please,” he said eagerly, placing his beer bottle on the counter and hopping off the stool. Oliver laughed and got off his own stool as Barry pulled out his wallet and paid the bill before Oliver could object. 

When Barry had paid, he turned and grabbed Oliver’s hand with no hesitation. Oliver, not used to something so personal, yet normal, didn’t pull back. Instead, he let Barry guide him through the bar to the door where they walked side by side, hand in hand to the Star Labs van. Barry opened the door for Oliver again, before hopping back into the driver’s seat. They sat in a comfortable silence once more as Barry drove to the hotel Oliver and his team were staying at. 

As Barry pulled up outside the hotel, they saw Team Arrow getting ready to leave the hotel, packing all their equipment and bags into the car they drove into town on. 

“So,” Barry started as they watched Felicity and Diggle loading up the car. 

“So,” Oliver said, looking at Barry with a warm smile. 

“Call me,” Barry told him. 

Oliver leaned in, ever so slightly. “I will,” he responded. 

“You better,” Barry said in a whisper, leaning in an inch himself. “I’ll be waiting.” 

“I won’t leave you disappointed,” Oliver promised. He leaned in some more. There was only about an inch between their faces now. The electricity between them waiting for the current so it could flow through them both. 

“Good,” said Barry, and he closed the distance, letting the sparks flood them more than any alcohol in the world ever could. It was like they could feel a current that connected them wholly and entirely. They weren’t inseparable. They never could be. Oliver let his tongue slide across Barry’s lips, asking for entry. Barry gratefully accepted, letting Oliver’s tongue enter his mouth as the two battled for dominance. 

It was a knock on the window that jolted them away from each other. It belonged to Diggle, standing at Oliver’s window with his arms crossed, but a big smile on his face. “Hey, uh, Oliver, we’re waiting on you, man,” Diggle said, a sneaky grin on his face. “Anytime you’re uh... ready to join us.” 

Oliver nodded his head, looking at Diggle with a caught and almost embarrassed expression on his face. “Right,” Oliver said back. 

Diggle’s grin didn’t leave his face. “Yeah, we’ll be right here,” he said, pointing back to Felicity who was watching too, her own face holding its own big grin as she waved her hands excitedly. “Bye Barry,” Diggle called before turning back to Felicity as he started giggling like a five-year-old in a candy store. 

Barry, in question, was true to his superhero title and scarlet in the face, looking straight ahead as he sheepishly brushed his hair back. “Yeah, bye, Dig,” he called, still not looking at the other man outside the window. 

“I think I’m regressing in age with you, Bare,” Oliver said with a laugh in his voice. 

Barry looked at Oliver, an embarrassed smile making its way on his face. “God, I think I am, too,” he admitted. But the two of them laughed. And Oliver leaned in once more, planting a soft kiss on Barry’s lips. 

“I’ll see you soon, okay?” Oliver said in a low voice, his eyes on Barry’s. 

Barry nodded. “Okay,” he whispered back. And he smiled at Oliver like he hung up the moon. Oliver left the car and walked to the rest of his teammates. Barry watched him go, and when he approached the other two, he started his drive back to Star Labs where he had to deposit the van, feeling a tingling sensation on his lips from where he felt like nothing in the world could shake the giddiness it flooded him with.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry & Oliver go on their first date. But the universe has plans of its own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, i know this story started pretty abruptly with both of them already having feelings for each other, but i WILL try to include as much backstory as i can in the next few chapters to indicate how it came to be. Hope it makes sense. Also, Julian exists in this universe but he isn’t Alchemy since Savitar hasn’t been created. Instead, I’m using my esteemed knowledge of the Flash comics and bringing Black Flash into play. Of course, it will be altered severely to match the show’s level and also, I don’t have profound scientific understanding so I guess its fiction based on fiction... if that makes sense.

“So,” Felicity started when they sat in the Arrowcave after unpacking their equipment as they got back from Central City. She spun on her chair to look at Oliver, who already knew this conversation was coming. “You and uh, Barry, seemed to be pretty... tongue-tied tonight,” she said with a suppressed grin that Oliver could easily see-through. 

Oliver cleared his throat, his stoic expression getting him red in the face but he simply chose not to look at Felicity as he stared straight ahead at the wall displaying his Arrow suit. Diggle stood close by, listening to the conversation, a smile on his own face as he crossed his arms and watched the other two. “Yeah...” Oliver began, unsure of how to progress without sounding too giddy or too much like the sappy teenager he felt himself becoming. “Recent development,” he finished simply. The fewer words, the better. 

“And how is this development going to... develop?” Felicity asked, wanting to not only get all the juice but also to annoy Oliver about it as much as he let her. 

Oliver looked at her with his bored, annoyed expression that he wore on his face ninety percent of the time (unless he was around Barry, it seemed). “I don’t know because we spent most of the day getting back to Star City and I haven’t even texted him to let him know we got back. By the way, we should really consider taking the Queen Consolidated private jet next time Barry needs us to save the world or something,” he said as calmly as possible without rambling. 

Diggle stepped forward slightly and nodded his head. “In that case, we should all get some sleep,” he said. “Oliver, you should let Thea know you’re back. I’m sure she’d like to know we got rid of the Dominators once and for all after what they did to us back in their spaceship.” He picked up his bag and began making his way to the elevator. “Also, I’m sure there’s a certain speedster waiting to hear from you, too,” he called casually over his shoulder as he entered the elevator and let the doors close with a ding, a smile on his face evident before they shut. 

Felicity looked at Oliver with her eyebrows raised, her mouth in a close-lipped smile, as if she were practically forcing herself to stay quiet. “I-” Oliver began as he glanced at her, unsure of how to respond. “I’m going home. We’ll... later,” he added before picking up his own bag and heading into the elevator. 

“Right, yes, no worries,” Felicity called to him as he left. “I’ll just, you know, get my own updates,” she said to herself after the elevator doors closed. 

**************************************************************************** 

Barry woke up around noon the next day, feeling surprisingly calm for the week he had just experienced. In his defense, it was a well-deserved slumber. He _had_ just helped save the world, while also kind of finally confessing his longtime feelings for the man he had admired for six years now. Barry turned over to his side and reached out his hand to the bedside table where his phone was on charge. He unplugged the charger and pulled his phone closer to him. He had four unread text messages that he received around 9 AM. The first was from Oliver. Something in his chest fluttered at the memory of the night before. 

**Ollie (9:03 AM)**

_Good morning. You’re probably asleep. It’s been a long week. We just got back. Next crisis, we’re definitely using the jet. Talk soon._

The next was from Felicity. 

**Felicity (9:11 AM)**

_We are definitely going to discuss your heated lip-lock session soon. Also, tell me when you tell Iris you had a lip-lock session with Oliver so that I can talk about it with her. Also, it would be really funny if Cisco_ _vibed_ _you and Oliver making out in the Star Labs van the next time he sits in it. God, I hope that happens now. It would make my whole year. Okay! Bye!_

Barry actually sat up and held his head as he thought about what Felicity said in her text. Sometimes Cisco did accidentally vibe things he didn’t mean to, and what if this happened. Barry would often feel like the speedster in him would also make him rapidly overthink to an unhealthy extent so he took a few breaths to slow down his mind from overreacting to a scenario that was most likely not happening anytime soon. 

Instead, he checked his next two messages. They were both from Oliver again. 

**Ollie (9:17 AM)**

_I just got home. I can’t stop smiling. I think you’re doing something to me. I can’t wait to see you._

**Ollie (9:18 AM)**

_Also, I should warn you. Felicity might harass you about this. But that should’ve been expected, tbh. It’s Felicity we’re talking about here. Ignore her. I’m going to try and sleep for a bit. See you._ _😊_

Barry smiled to himself. Oliver Queen actually sent him an _emoji._ That shouldn’t make him as excited as it did, right? He ran a hand through his hair before typing out a response to Oliver. 

**Barry (12:34 PM)**

_I just woke up. I think you might still be asleep. I hope you are. Kind of convenient that we saved the world by the weekend._

_And yeah, Felicity texted me. She said Cisco could accidentally vibe us making out in the van. If that_ _happens,_ _I think I’m going to be mortified for life._

_Call me when you’re up. I’m going to CCPD for a bit. I can already imagine Singh has a great pile of cases for me to go through after this week-long ‘break.’_

Barry took a long, hot shower and got dressed. By the time he was ready to leave it was already 1:20. He may as well work a half-day at the lab. If he used his superspeed to get them done, he could be back on track by Monday. 

Saturday’s at CCPD were usually boring and slow. It always felt like the criminals decided to do their worst work on a weekday. Barry normally never went to the station on weekends, but he was on call in case he was needed for a particularly bad incident, as was Joe. 

Today seemed to be such a case, as when Barry entered the precinct, he saw Joe at his desk looking through a case. Barry approached him, a sheepish grin already making its way onto his face. 

Joe looked up when he saw Barry coming towards him. “Good morning sunshine. How’s it feel to save the world from creepy aliens?” he asked casually as if this was a conversation that was regular and natural. 

Barry’s smile didn’t leave his face. “Not gonna lie, this feeling; it never gets old. I’m actually feeling... fresh. Does that even make sense?” 

Joe’s eyebrows shot up, but he didn’t comment on his foster son’s good mood. It was well deserved. “Not at all, but I’m not about to tell you any different,” he started. He lowered his voice slightly and leaned closer to Barry before continuing, “And all that extra-terrestrial shit... it’s all over, right? No one’s about to come and – like abduct you?” 

Barry would have laughed if he didn’t know Joe was being serious, but he was far too used to these kinds of conversations for this to be unusual. “No, Joe,” Barry said with a short chuckle that he disguised as a huff. “It’s all over. Now I just have to get back to getting used to the new normal, apparently.” He paused for a moment before slowly adding, “Julian isn’t in today, is he?” 

Joe gave him a look that made Barry feel like he knew all his secrets. “No, but he might get called in depending on the crime scene I’m supposed to check out. You better come, too. Something tells me it wasn’t just a regular murder.” 

Barry nodded his head solemnly and followed Joe out of the precinct where they met with other officers who were assigned to the case. 

When they got to the crime scene and found their victim, Barry didn’t need an autopsy report to tell him what caused the victim’s death. His heart had been stopped from the inside – as if someone had literally grabbed it and forced it to stop beating. A speedster had done this. But... who? And what was the connection to this man? It was all extremely unusual. The only speedsters that he was aware of at this point in time were him and Wally – and that too since Wally seemingly got his powers after being jolted into them by a near-death incident much like Jesse had experienced. Jay Garrick was safe on Earth-3, and Zoom was taken prisoner into the Speedforce by the Time Wraith demons. Had he somehow escaped? 

Although he knew it was most likely impossible, this was making him slightly worried. Even when he got back to his lab from the crime scene, he almost didn’t even notice Oliver calling him until the last few rings. 

“Hello! Sorry, I was distracted and didn’t hear my phone ringing until like _now,_ but I’m glad I caught you, how’s everything? How are you?” Barry blurted into the phone in one breath before Oliver could even greet him. 

Oliver smiled on the other side of the phone, even though Barry couldn’t see. He would never admit it to him, but Barry’s rambling was extremely endearing. “I’m alright, Bare. I just got to the bunker. Surprisingly, there’s nothing major going on here today. We haven’t had any new sightings of Vigilante recently, so I guess that’s one less thing to worry about for now,” Oliver told him, his voice even and calm – a total opposite of what Barry was feeling at the moment. 

Barry tried to make his mind relax for a moment and just focus on the sound of Oliver’s voice. It was known to have calming properties on him before, it might just be enough to ease his mind right now, too. “That’s good to hear,” Barry replied softly, leaning back into his chair as he looked out the window of his lab. 

“How are things with you?” Oliver asked him gently. He could feel some tension through the phone but wasn’t sure if he imagined it or not. 

Barry paused and took a deep breath. “There’s been a meta attack this morning,” Barry explained. 

Oliver hummed into the receiver. “I’m sorry to hear that. Do you have any leads?” 

Barry nodded, even though Oliver couldn’t see. “I haven’t even started on the blood samples but they already told me what I need to know. It was a speedster, Ollie. I can tell. It’s the way the body fell and there’s no suffocation or other signs of distress. His heart was stopped in the way that Thawne used to kill people. The way that... that Zoom killed my dad.” 

It was Oliver’s turn to pause as he listened to what Barry was telling him. “Do you think maybe Zoom could be back?” 

“No,” Barry said without hesitation. “The Wraith demon took him into the Speedforce. There’s no way he could have escaped that. I went into the Speedforce, I saw how it works in there. I don’t know. There’s something weird about this I can feel it in my guts.” 

“I hope you’re able to figure it out, then. You can stop them. I know you can,” Oliver encouraged. He had no doubt about Barry’s ability to stop evil forces that threatened his city – or threatened anyone for that matter. Barry always stood up for what was right. Barry Allen was sunshine, and he would never let darkness reign over. “You’ve proven time and time again that you’re fast enough to stop anything that means to chaos. You’re more than capable of stopping whatever this is, too. And you have me, too, you know.” 

Barry smiled at this. “I know,” he replied softly. “Thank you.” 

There was a momentary pause between the two, but it wasn’t awkward. “Sorry, I know you didn’t call to hear me get all panicky about this case,” Barry said after the moment passed. “I’m just paranoid, I guess.” 

Oliver gave a light chuckle into the receiver. “It’s alright, Barry,” Oliver said. “You don’t have to apologize for telling me about your feelings. Ever, OK?” 

“Okay. Thank you. For calling me at the right time,” Barry told him. 

Oliver shrugged. “Merely coincidental, but I think my subconscious mind was telling me you needed somebody to talk to.” 

Barry laughed lightly. “Well, no one ever told you that you don’t have good instincts,” he said. “I already feel better hearing your voice.” 

“Ah, there’s the cheesy speedster I was looking for,” Oliver said in a considerably cheerful tone, and Barry could practically feel his smile through the phone. “I hope he can stick around to the end of this call.” 

“For you?” Barry asked, his voice soft. “Anything.” 

Oliver had to pause a moment. Barry said things like this so easily like it wasn’t hard for him to think like that, and Oliver knew he meant it, too. Barry was always genuine, and every time he said things like this to Oliver, it almost made his knees weak from the weight Barry took off his shoulders with his sunshine personality – forcing him out of the darkness. “Well, if that’s the case, would you maybe want to come over Sunday night?” Oliver said slowly and carefully after several seconds had passed. 

Barry hummed into the phone, feeling like he was allowed to be sassy with Oliver. “Depends, what’s in it for me?” 

Oliver raised his eyebrows and smirked to himself. “Good question,” he answered. “A date with me sound good to you?” 

“Sounds okay to say the least,” Barry responded easily. There was a chuckle on the other end of the line as Oliver heard Barry’s quick-witted reply. 

Though he knew that Barry was still worried about the murder case from earlier, he wanted to give him a first date he wouldn’t ever forget. Now he would try even harder to make that possible. “Alright, so I’m thinking you could get here by 7?” 

“No problem,” Barry told him. “By the way,” he added quickly before the conversation ended or changed course. “How fancy am I meant to dress?” 

Oliver considered this a moment. He didn’t want to take Barry somewhere completely out of his comfort zone, but the restaurant he had picked definitely had a blazer requirement in its dress code. That was fine, right? “Well, I want you to be comfortable, but the restaurant is considerably fancy. So, maybe a blazer, tie optional?” 

Barry was glad they weren’t having this conversation face to face. He knew Oliver was used to a more luxurious life than he was, and part of that life was eating fancier food than he was accustomed to. “Uh, sure, yeah,” Barry said quickly before Oliver thought he was hesitating. He didn’t exactly feel the need to go to a fancy restaurant, but if it made Oliver happy, he could do it. “Yeah, that’s fine, Ollie, I’ll see you at 7 tomorrow.” 

Oliver grinned, “Okay, perfect. I’ll see you then. Talk to you later.” 

“Yeah, later. Bye,” Barry said before hanging up the phone. At that point, Iris walked into his lab, a bag of Big Belly Burger in her hand and a grin on her face. 

“You will not believe the scoop I just got about this case I've been working on – and wow, what happened to you that you have that look on your face?” she said in one swift go. 

Barry raised his eyebrows at her as she took a seat across his desk from him. “What face? I don’t have a face,” he claimed quickly, then tried to soothe his features and look at her with what he hoped was a normal expression. 

Iris raised a single, perfectly styled eyebrow. “Bare, I’ve known you my whole life. I know all your faces,” she said to him with a knowing tone. She began pulling out food from the bag she had with her and passed a full meal of fries, burger, and a drink towards Barry as she spoke. “Somethings got you either very rattled, or very nervous...” she considered for a moment. “Or even both. Do you have gossip for me?” she added in an excited tone. 

Barry rolled his eyes. “No, and stop doing that,” he said to her. 

“Doing what?” she asked, affronted. 

Barry gestured to her face and her demeanor. “This whole thing you’re doing – like you know all my secrets!” 

Iris just grinned even bigger, rolling her eyes at him now. “But I _do_ know all of your secrets. Except for the obvious one you’re keeping from me right now, so spill.” 

He took a few fries and shoved them ungracefully into his mouth, thoughtful. He looked at her for a moment and already felt himself giving in. “I kissed Oliver Queen and now we’re going out tomorrow night to a fancy restaurant and I don’t really want to go to a fancy restaurant but I don’t want to hurt his feelings either,” he said in one quick breath. 

Iris leaned back into her chair, her eyes wide and her mouth falling comically open in a broad grin. “Shut up!” she punched his arm in her astonishment and Barry let out a small ‘ow.’ “You _made out with Oliver Queen!_ AKA the _Green Arrow!”_ (to which Barry quickly shushed her). “Oh, shut up, Bare, there’s no one else here. Oh my god!” 

“I didn’t _make out_ with him,” Barry added sheepishly. “It was more like a _languid_ kiss.” 

Iris rolled her eyes again. “Yeah, as if, blushy,” she said, and Barry hadn’t even realized he _was_ blushing to begin with. “I just can’t believe you guys finally kissed.” 

Barry looked at her, taken aback, halfway through biting into his burger. Unfortunately for Iris, he had no reservations around her and spoke to her with his mouth half full. “What do you mean by _finally?”_ he said as coherently as possible with the food in his mouth. 

“We’ve all kind of been waiting for the two of you to get your shit together long enough to realize you both deserve happiness in your life,” she explained casually, taking a bite of her own burger. 

Barry looked surprised. He chewed and swallowed his food slowly. He had an unfocused gaze on a part of his desk as he wondered how long everyone apparently knew about his feelings for Oliver before the man himself knew – or even he knew. “I...” he started, unsure of where to begin. “I mean... I can’t say I haven’t thought about it before, and I know it’s all sudden, believe me, I _know,_ but have you always known I have feelings for him?” 

Iris swallowed the bite in her mouth and nodded. “I mean, it’s kind of obvious. You get all cute and grinny around him, and he actually jokes with you and _smiles_ ,” she told him. “Felicity and I started a bet over who would make the first move between you two like a year ago. And – great, _thanks a lot Barry,”_ she said in frustration, punching his arm again. “I owe her and Roy like fifty bucks each.” 

Barry gaped at her. He tried to find words to respond with, but he was a sputtered mess. When he eventually found proper words he said, “I’m sorry?” in great confusion. “I didn’t _know_ that would happen okay; he took me by surprise too! And – it was more like – it was a very spur of the moment thing, I didn’t think yesterday morning that my night would end like that – not at _all,_ I’m still not entirely sure it happened if I’m being honest.” 

Iris laughed as she stole some of Barry’s fries, having finished her own – something he was inherently used to by now. “Well, now you know. You guys have been flirting with each other for years. Even evil-Wells knew you guys had feelings for each other,” she said. “Dad probably won’t be too happy, by the way,” she added, in a half grimace. 

“Wait, how do you know that?” 

Iris had a long sip of her drink and rolled her eyes again as she recalled her father’s reaction to finding out Barry had a _thing_ for Oliver. “He kind of guessed when he saw you two interact and how excited you used to get around him at first – well, you kinda still do, really –” (and Barry rolled his own eyes at that, and gestured urgently for her to continue). “But he assumed Oliver would only end up breaking your heart, and I guess that scared him.” 

Barry let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and leaned back heavily in his chair. “Huh,” he let out, his gaze falling back to being unfocused on a part of his desk as he thought about what his future with Oliver Queen could be. 

The older man was known to be a playboy, and that was even after he came back from the island. He was spotted all over the world on business meetings with different people entering his hotel with him – men, women, ‘business associates?’ He wasn’t sure. He never asked, and he never pried. It wasn’t his place. He and Oliver were always good friends, sure, but they never crossed boundaries. But now, if Barry was being honest, Oliver’s tremendous romantic past was quite intimidating. He never _had_ actually been in a serious relationship. But then again, neither had Barry, really. At least, not anything longer than six months. Why was he even thinking about long-term relationships anyway? It’s not like he and Oliver _defined_ their relationship – could you even call this a relationship yet anyway? They technically hadn’t even been on a first date and - 

“Oh my god, _stop_ your hyper-speed-overthinking!” Iris exclaimed, an exasperated expression on her face as she watched Barry with those same eyes that told him she somehow knew everything he was feeling. 

Barry caught off guard, shook his head innocently. “No, I’m not -” he tried, but Iris interrupted him before he could tell his blatant lie. 

She just rolled her eyes at him, for what had to be the hundredth time since she came to the lab and said, “Yes, actually, you are. I know you, Barry Allen. Look, you can’t just decide how this thing with you and Oliver is going to go based on a _fear_ that my dad has. Need I remind you he’s apprehensive of pretty much everything.” She stood up, gathering all the trash on the desk and putting it into the bag it came in. “Just... go on this date with him. You don’t even know what’s going to happen ten minutes from now, let alone ten dates with him. For all you know, he could be _the one,”_ she said, her fingers waving in a cheerleader sort of way and a sly grin on her face as she spoke the last two words. 

“I guess so,” he said uncertainly. “I mean I know you’re right; I can’t predict what’ll happen with us. I don’t know... I guess I’m just suddenly nervous now because he’s so much more... experienced than I am.” He chewed nervously on his lower lip as he thought about it. 

“If you’re trying to tell me you’re a virgin, I already know you and Markus Davidson did on prom night, senior year,” she informed him off-handedly, not even looking at him as she unceremoniously stuffed trash into the bag. 

Barry’s eyes shot wide open as he gaped at her, leaning forwards to her. “How do you know that?” he asked, not even mad, but extremely surprised. Apparently, she wasn’t kidding when she said she _did_ know all his secrets. 

Iris shrugged. “Read the letter he wrote you in that box under your bed that you left behind after you moved into your dorm in college,” she said, having pulled out a pocket mirror and reapplying her faded lipstick. 

“You went through my things?!” Barry said, rising from his chair, still not really mad, but now simply awestruck. 

Iris looked at him with an obvious expression at this. “Well, duh. Dad wanted to clear out some of our things when we went to college, and you moved into your dorm before I did. Would you rather he went through your stuff or me?” 

Barry looked at her with resignation. “You, I _guess,”_ he said with slight venom, though it was half-hearted. 

Iris smiled, clearly proud of herself. She put back her lipstick and mirror and looked at him brightly. “I thought so,” she grabbed the Big Belly Burger bag, now filled with trash, and turned to leave, heading towards the door. “Don’t forget to give me deets after tomorrow! Send me outfit pics!” she called before disappearing down the hall. 

And she wasn’t there to see it, but Barry’s mind started another long tumultuous overthought about what his ‘outfit’ would even be. 

******************************************************************************

Barry showed up at exactly 6:55 pm outside Oliver’s apartment that he shared with Thea. He smoothed down his clothes, making sure nothing got scorched when he ran here. It was easier for him now to control the way his body reacted when he ran, but from time to time, he did slip up and set a sock or sleeve on fire by accident. He fiddled slightly with his tie, a skinny silk tie, patterned with tiny stars that looked imperceptible to the naked eye unless you saw them up close. It was his father's. When he died, Barry received a letter telling him he inherited all of his parents’ old belongings that were in the state’s custody in a storage unit he wouldn’t gain access to until he was 18, but he just never bothered to take it. It must have been something about his inane belief that one day he would get to live with his father again and get all of his stuff then. 

But now he was almost 28, and far less naïve, though still optimistic enough to see the good in people. So, he took a deep breath, temporarily ignored the itchiness he felt in his blazer that now felt tight around his shoulders and arms (kudos to him, for that, though), and raised his hand to knock twice on the door in front of him. 

He hesitated when it took a little long for the door to be answered, hoping he got the time right. He was almost about to speed back to Central City when the door opened. It was Thea, and she had a broad grin spread across her face. “Hey, Barr-” she began but was immediately cut off by her older brother who appeared behind her. 

“Thea, I can’t believe you – oh,” Oliver stopped reprimanding his sister and looked up at Barry, his gaze softening. He was wearing a suit of his own, and naturally, Barry thought, it was tailored to perfection. “Hi Barry,” he said with a goofy looking smile that made Barry feel like he needed to jumpstart his heart that seemingly stopped beating. 

“Hi, Ollie,” Barry said back, a grin creeping onto his own face. 

Thea stood in the middle of the two, staring between the men. “Well, this is more fun for me than fighting you to answer the door,” she said, looking at Oliver with knowing eyes. She looked back at Barry. “He tried to fight me to answer the door, you know. I beat him to it. You see, he won’t ever admit it, but getting resurrected by the Lazurus Pit actually made me just a _teensy_ bit stronger than him.” 

Oliver crossed his arms and looked down, emitting a soft chuckle before looking up, his expression fighting to remain serious. “No it didn’t,” he cleared his throat. “It... definitely... did n- Barr, you, uh, ready to go?” 

Barry nodded with an “Mhm,” his hands stuffing themselves in his pockets as he watched the two siblings interact with a half-smile. 

“Great,” Oliver proclaimed. “Let me just put my watch on, which is what I was doing when Speedy here decided to start a fight for the _door_ of all things.” 

Barry chuckled. “Sure, go ahead,” he said, as Thea moved aside and let him walk inside the house instead of just standing at the door. 

Oliver went up the stairs quickly, and from the way, the pillows on the couch were haphazardly tossed across the living room floor, Barry wondered if he and Thea actually jumped down from the second floor in their haste to get the door. Knowing the two archers, it was entirely possible. 

“Can I get you anything to drink? Wine, to calm your nerves maybe?” Thea asked him, watching as Barry silently observed the big apartment. 

“I - well I wish – but I can't really get affected by alcohol,” Barry told her. “Speedster healing,” he explained sheepishly. 

“Wow, that... sucks,” Thea said slowly. Then, she walked a few steps closer to Barry. “Look, Oliver’s really excited about your date, and even though he would rather die than admit it, he really wants things to work out with you two.” 

Barry looked at her, not sure of what to say, and unfortunately for him, his mouth spoke before his brain registered it. “Well, how do you know he wants things to work if he’d rather die than admit it?” 

Thea rolled her eyes in an obvious manner. “Because, I’m his sister,” she said as if Barry didn’t already know. “When he was telling me about what happened between you two, I could tell. Just... don’t let him sabotage it, okay?” 

Barry furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean, every instinct he has is to sabotage the good things he has in his life. Don’t let him do it to you guys, too,” she said softly. 

Just as he opened his mouth to respond, Oliver came down the stairs. “Sorry, took me a minute to find where I last put it,” Oliver told them. The other two weren’t aware of it, but he was pretending to clasp his watch onto his wrist that he found immediately, and instead felt the secure fastening of emergency arrows and unclutched quiver on the inside of his suit. Anything could happen. He had to be prepared if it did. “Thea, I hope you weren’t harassing Barry,” he said as he approached them. 

“Just giving him the little sister talk,” she said innocently. 

Oliver rolled his eyes at his sister. “You okay?” he directed at Barry. 

Barry nodded with a quick smile, “Yeah, of course,” he reassured. 

“Great, let’s go?” Oliver asked with a nod to the door. 

“Mhm,” Barry responded. “Bye, Thea,” he said turning behind him to look at the younger girl with a nod. 

“Bye guys,” Thea called after them. “Oh, and uh, Barry, if you hurt him, you know, I’ll break your leg. I know you have speed healing and all, so I’ll break it twice.” 

Barry gulped, looking unsurely from Oliver back to Thea. “Right,” he said slowly. “Noted.” 

“Thanks for that, Speedy,” Oliver said, looking back at his sister as he moved to close the door with a slightly annoyed expression. 

“So,” Barry said as he and Oliver got in the elevator. “Where to?” 

Oliver paused a moment, looking at Barry. “What?” Barry asked, suddenly feeling insecure about himself. “Is what I’m wearing not okay? I can speed change you know, just say the word,” he said at a rapid ramble. 

Oliver just moved a step closer, a smile on his face as he reached out to hold Barry’s hand. “No, you look great,” he told him. “I was just looking at how handsome you are.” 

Barry felt the blush on his face before his mind even registered what Oliver had said. “I - heh,” Barry let out a little huff of relieved laughter. “Coming from _you,_ that’s... the best compliment ever, I think,” and he rubbed his thumb on the back of Oliver’s hand for a brief moment. 

The elevator doors opened up into the parking lot. Oliver led the way out, pulling Barry by the hand he was still holding. “I know you’re used to speeding everywhere, but I thought we could just drive there?” Oliver asked, stopping in front of what seemed to be a brand-new BMW M5. 

Barry’s eyes went wide as he looked from the car to Oliver. “Tell me you didn’t buy a car _just_ for this date,” he said, hopeful. “I _know_ you, I know you prefer your motorcycle like you didn’t buy this to impress me did you? I mean it _does_ impress me, I won’t deny that I'm just really – _wow,_ this is a great car, but you didn’t have to - I mean, you shouldn’t have -” 

Oliver chuckled softly, unlocking the car with a click from the tiny remote in his hand, guiding Barry with his other hand on his back to the passenger’s side. “No, I didn’t buy this car just for this date,” he said with a smile. He opened the door for Barry and stepped slightly to the side. “However, I _am_ using it for the first time on our date. Couldn’t think of a better way to break it in.” 

Barry just looked at him, his eyes still unbelieving how the man in front of him was quite insane. Insane but damn, was he amazing. “Wow,” was all Barry said, with a shake of his head as he sat inside the car. The leather interior was still squeaking from its new-ness and Barry quickly admired how stunning it appeared from the inside. 

Oliver got to the driver’s side and quickly sat down. “There’s some touch situation, apparently,” he said looking at the slot where the key was typically meant to go in and uncertainly touched it instead. 

“Welcome, Oliver Queen,” a robotic female voice that oddly reminded Barry of Gideon from the Time Vault at Star Labs spoke through the car. The car turned on and Oliver pulled out of his space in the parking lot and out of the building, but not before letting out his own soft, “Wow.” 

Barry looked at Oliver driving, wondering how the hell his life came to this moment. He was here. He was with _Oliver,_ and they were actually going on a _date._ He had wanted this moment to happen for so long, but he never even let himself believe for five seconds that it could be a possibility. He would convince himself he was constantly imagining Oliver’s eyes roaming over his body when he wore his Flash suit, or his flirtatious winks, and his casual compliments. He would pretend he couldn’t feel Oliver holding on a little longer in their hugs, or the gentle grazing of his shoulder on a mission when he would ask if he was okay. He would force himself to believe it wasn’t real, and that it didn’t mean anything. That it was in his head. He wanted desperately to hold on to this feeling, right now, of knowing it was real. And if it was some crazy dream that he was experiencing, he didn’t want to wake up. At least not yet. 

It was why he went along with what Oliver said at the bar so quickly. It was why he didn’t question him or ask the other man when he started feeling this way for him. It was why, for the first time in his life, he didn’t question things for being the way they were – didn't investigate, didn’t stop to consider it – and just let it _be._

_“_ You okay?” Oliver asked, his focus mainly on the road, but his eyes darting between Barry and the front rapidly, jolting the other man out of his reverie. 

Barry smiled. “Fine,” he answered. “Just trying to figure out when my life suddenly became so... worth living.” 

Oliver looked at him with a surprised but soft smile. He reached out his right hand and held Barry’s in it, his left still firmly on the steering wheel. “Believe me,” he started, his eyes going back to the road. “I’ve been asking myself that question since you let me kiss you two nights ago.” 

Barry was glad Oliver’s attention was on the road because he was certain his face was _gushing._ Jesus, the older man was sending him back to his 15-year-old self that got excited every time another guy said he was cute. 

They pulled up to a restaurant soon after, Oliver stopping in front of the valet. And that’s how Barry knew this place was _fancy_ , it had its own valet. Barry’s door was opened by a doorman standing nearby, and he thanked him as he got out, walking around to Oliver’s side who stood waiting for him. “You ready?” Oliver asked, his face not only glowing from the golden lights streaming through the magnificent sign that named the restaurant above them but from the beautiful smile that erupted on his face. 

“Yeah,” Barry said back in an almost whisper. “As I’ll ever be,” he added in a mumble as Oliver took him by the hand to the entrance. 

The inside of the restaurant was amazing. It was big, and well-lit, with velvet-covered seat cushions and a big wall of what obviously had to be very expensive wine. “Wow,” Barry softly let out as he took it all in. 

Oliver smiled at him as he approached the man at the reception. “Hi, yes, Queen, table for two?” he asked. 

The receptionist didn’t even need to check his logbook for confirmation. “Mr. Queen, right this way,” he said politely, side-eyeing Barry casually as he showed them to their table. 

The table in question was designed like a booth, right at the far end of the restaurant, lit by an overhead, hanging lamp, emitting a strong gold light, much like the one from the sign outside. Oliver and Barry each took a seat on either side of the booth, and were immediately greeted by a waiter that literally neither of them heard approaching. 

“Good evening, my name is Greggory, and I’ll be your server this evening. Can I start you off with any wine?” the waiter asked, his voice light and polite, as he handed them both a menu each. 

Oliver looked at Barry quickly before looking back at the waiter. “Actually, I reserved a bottle of – uhm – _Chambertin Grand Cru,”_ Oliver told the waiter, in a low voice, sounding slightly … embarrassed? It seemed that way anyway to Barry, but he could've been wrong. 

The waiter’s eyes went wide as if he just realized he made a great mistake. “Of course, Mr. Queen!” he said, looking worried, suddenly. “I made a note here, also, I forgot, I am so sorry, my sincerest apologies.” 

Upon the waiter’s flustered demeanor, Oliver _definitely_ looked embarrassed now. His lips formed a thin line as he looked down for a moment before meeting Greggory’s eyes again. “It’s alright, happens to everyone,” he said with a smile. “Don’t worry about it.” 

The waiter simply nodded, his eyes still wide and nervous with the thought of his mistake still present in his mind. “Right. My apologies, again, sirs,” he said. “I’ll be back with your Chambertin in just a moment.” 

Barry, who was watching the encounter without uttering a word looked at Oliver’s face as the man looked back at him with a bashful expression. “So... how awful _are_ rich people that Greggory just – well – shat his pants?” Barry asked, trying to lighten the mood. 

Luckily, Oliver laughed – a strong, throaty laugh that Barry could feel was real and genuine. It made his chest tighten, just a little. “The worst. Like you wouldn’t believe,” Oliver told him. “Fortunately for you, though, you scored a date with the best of ‘em.” 

Barry’s eyes twinkled as he let out a laugh of his own. “Seems like it. Maybe the hottest of them too,” he said with a mischievous grin. 

Oliver smiled at that, but it didn’t meet his eyes this time. “I wasn’t always, you know,” he said quietly. 

Oh, so they were going to talk about _this,_ then. Cool. 

“I used to be … one of the awful ones,” Oliver went on. Barry watched him speak, letting him say what he needed to. “I think pre-Island Oliver would have chewed Greggory’s head off if I’m being honest.” 

Barry reached his hand across the table and placed it over Oliver’s, his thumb doing that same circular movement that it did in the elevator before. “You’re not like that, anymore, though,” he pointed out gently. “You haven’t been like that in a really long time.” 

Oliver nodded, enjoying the sensation of having Barry’s hand covering his, the other man’s thumb soothing his nerves with the simplest action. “I know,” Oliver said. “But, I guess I've been wondering for a while what would have happened to me if I never got on that boat. I guess the Dominators answered that for me. But... I don’t know. I think that was a version of me I would have liked to believe could have been real if the island never happened. But I know it isn’t true.” 

Barry furrowed his brows in confusion but didn’t move his hand. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean, the me I saw in that hallucination the Dominators had us under … I don’t think he would’ve been the version of me to exist if I never got on the boat,” Oliver explained as best as he could. 

“Why?” Barry asked gently, not wanting to push but still wanting to know what the other man meant. 

Oliver let out a soft self-deprecating laugh. “Because I sucked, Barry,” he told him, looking the other man in the eyes. “I was the worst. I was … I cheated on Laurel twice before the island. William’s mother... this other guy I met at a bar one time – it doesn’t matter. But the point is that I wasn’t a good person. Sometimes – sometimes I’m … scared I’m still not.” 

Barry looked at him in disbelief. He pulled Oliver’s hand closer to him so he could clasp it tighter. “No... you’re better,” he said softly, but with deliberation. “You’ve been through so much, and it changed you. Like what you told me at the bar, do you remember? You said you’ve changed at least six times since we met. Which means that’s six times more that you changed after Lian Yu, and experiencing all that you did there. You’re never going to be perfect, but who is, anyway? Honestly, the most perfect person I can think of is probably, well, I guess Ray!” 

Oliver laughed in spite of the conversation they were having. “Really, Ray?” he asked, amused. 

Barry nodded, a smile growing on his own face. “That man is entirely a cinnamon roll and all he does to hurt anyone is probably bore them with his advanced scientific knowledge,” he said. 

Oliver smiled at the other man, the light from the overhead lamp casting a long shadow of the two men on their table. “I guess you’re right,” he said finally. 

Barry scoffed. “Of course I am, I'm smarter than you,” he claimed, a sly grin on his face. 

The other man just rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help but nod his head in agreement. “Yeah, whatever. I could’ve graduated college early too, you know – if I... went. Or didn’t drop out,” he replied. 

“Thrice,” Barry reminded him, the grin still on his face. 

“Here’s your wine, sirs,” Greggory said, having returned with a fancy looking bottle of red wine. He poured them both enough to garner them a long taste, and gingerly placed the bottle into the wine holder by the table. “Have you made up your mind on what to order?” 

“Not quite, Greggory,” Oliver told the waiter with a smile. “Could you give us some time if that’s alright?” 

Barry smiled at Oliver, even though his attention was focused on Greggory. God, if only he saw himself the way Barry saw him. He’d never doubt himself ever again after that. 

“Of course,” Greggory said, looking considerably less nervous. 

“Thank you,” Barry said to the waiter as he took his leave, to whom Greggory nodded with a smile. “He’s got to be following your Instagram. I just know it.” 

Oliver rolled his eyes as he began looking through his menu. “I barely even use that thing, Bare.” 

“Maybe,” Barry said decidedly, opening his own menu card. “But I’m just saying, he’s a follower.” 

The menu had lists of fancy-sounding food that had Barry’s eyes going wide at almost every article on the page from the price mentioned by its side. He would’ve been fine eating ramen on Oliver’s couch as long as he was with him. This felt... excessive. Maybe even unnecessary. But he wasn’t about to let Oliver know how it made him slightly uncomfortable. Not if it made the other man happy to bring him here. 

“You sure you’re okay with being here?” Oliver asked, looking up at Barry from his menu card. 

Barry wasn’t sure how long the other man was watching him, but if it had been long, he had to have witnessed his facial expressions changing rapidly on his face as he looked at the food options in front of him. “Huh? Yeah, of course,” Barry replied quickly in what he hoped was a reassuring way. 

“Okay, but you’re _sure?”_ Oliver stressed again, his eyes searching Barry’s face for any hint that he wasn’t as okay as he said. 

Barry just reached his hand out again and held Oliver’s. “How could I not be? I’m with you,” he said with an easy smile. 

“God, I’m on a date with a sap,” Oliver said, but he had a smile on his face and a light blush that he could have easily gotten away with if it weren’t for the lighting in the restaurant. 

Their food came after fifteen minutes, during which they enjoyed their wine – that Barry happily drank, blissfully unaware of how much the other man paid for the bottle – and talked. Just _talked._ About everything and everyone. It didn’t feel forced and it didn’t feel like too much effort was being put into it. It just felt … easy. 

They were halfway through their meals when Oliver’s phone rang. It was Felicity. 

Oliver looked at his screen in confusion. “Sorry, I told her not tonight … it must be an emergency,” Oliver looked at Barry with regret all over his face. 

“Ollie, pick it up,” Barry told him, feeling the urgency of what could have happened running through him already. 

“Yes, Felicity?” Oliver asked an edge to his voice settling in. 

“Oliver, someone with a very large, very big, dangerous gun – and I mean like, it can shoot the equivalent of lava in a single shot dangerous just entered an abandoned warehouse on 53rd and Smith. I just checked the security footage and get this – your friend Vigilante has decided to make an appearance,” Felicity explained as quickly as possible. “I just got an alert of high levels of heat signature coming out of that area. You’ve been waiting for a hit on his location, now's your chance!” 

Oliver grunted in frustration. “ _Now?”_ he said weakly into the phone. “I -” Oliver looked desperately at Barry, who immediately knew this was an urgent matter. 

“Tell her we’ll be there,” Barry said, his expression going serious. 

Oliver looked at him in surprise. “I - really?” he asked, unsure, but feeling the itch that he had to go. 

Barry nodded, putting his napkin on the table and gesturing for Greggory. “Okay - I’m on the way,” Oliver told Felicity before hanging up. 

“I’m going with you,” Barry said to Oliver, his expression still serious. 

“Is everything okay, sirs? Can I get you anything else?” Greggory asked, looking between the two men who were locked in a fierce gaze with each other. 

Oliver reached into his pocket and pulled out his credit card, handing it to Greggory. “We’ve got news of an unexpected emergency and I have to leave -” Oliver began to explain calmly to Greggory but was cut off by Barry. 

“Sorry, he means both of us,” Barry said to Greggory, determined. “I’m coming _with_ you.” 

“Just - charge the card, would you Greg?” Oliver said, feeling the frustration growing in him. 

Greggory accepted the card and walked away from the table, not wanting to intervene more in what seemed to be a very... confusing but intense conversation. 

“Barry, look, I know you want to help but -” Oliver started, but was cut off _again._

_“_ And what? It’s dangerous? Need I remind you we battled against _aliens_ not two days ago?” Barry responded, lowering his voice slightly, but still very urgent and determined. 

“Felicity says that it’s Vigilante,” he tried to explain calmly, but Barry just rolled his eyes. 

“So, you mean the guy I saved you from last week before he – what? Ruptured your spleen?” Barry said, not faltering from his own argument. 

Oliver felt his exasperation rising. “He’s got a really dangerous weapon -” he tried again. 

Barry scoffed. “Yeah, never faced _those_ before.” 

“Barry.” 

“ _Oliver,”_ Barry said in a slightly condescending way. “I am going with you. And you literally cannot stop me. Okay? Just – look, just let me help you. Please.” His eyes were hopeful and big, and he held Oliver’s hand as if he would never let go. And if he got hurt because Oliver let him come along... he wouldn’t forgive himself. 

He still felt himself faltering. It was those damn green eyes and the way he looked at him. It was the way Barry held his hand and promised to help him. He was only human, after all. 

“Fine,” he said shortly, not about to let him think he was alright with this decision. 

Greggory returned with Oliver’s credit card and Oliver slipped a hundred-dollar bill into the waiter’s palm as they got up to leave. Barry pretended like it wasn’t slightly unnerving that he didn’t even need to know the amount of the bill. The two left the restaurant in a rapid pace, and Oliver handed the valet his ticket as the man ran to get his car. 

He could feel the urgency rising in him – the need, the adrenaline coursing through him already; his mind starting to think of battle strategies. And then he looked at the man beside him and started thinking of ways he could keep Barry protected – at all costs. Of course, logically he knew Barry could protect himself, he did so most of the time. But now... it felt different. It felt... it felt like he wouldn’t be able to live knowing something had happened to him. It felt like he was – no. God, what was it about Barry that turned him into an emotional mess? They’d been on _half a date_ and he was already thinking of how broken he’d be if something happened to the other man. 

The car came, and Oliver looked at Barry, his face completely serious. “You have to drive,” he told him, already moving towards the backseat. 

Barry looked taken aback. Rightfully so. “I - what? Oliver, you can’t be serious,” he said, watching Oliver pull a suitcase out of the trunk and open the door to the backseat. 

“I’m completely serious,” and he got into the car. 

Barry, completely flustered and confused, sat in the front seat. It felt surreal, being told to drive a car this expensive and brand new – and more importantly, this _sexy._ He felt like his 18-year-old self wouldn’t believe him if he told him he’d get to drive a car like this one day. “Felicity’s comms are hooked on the radio. Just turn it on, she’ll tell you where to go,” Oliver told Barry as he drove them down the road. 

Barry pressed some buttons on the screen next to the steering wheel uncertainly, and when he thought he had got it through he gave a weak, “Felicity?” 

“Barry?” Felicity’s voiced boomed back. “Oh my god, Barry!” she said again, as if she suddenly realized who she was speaking to. “I _totally_ forgot tonight was your first date, you guys, oh my god, if I knew – well, I don’t really know what I would have done actually – maybe begged Vigilante to do whatever the hell he’s doing tomorrow night, maybe,” she rambled into the comms. 

“Felicity, I know you feel bad, but you need to tell Barry where to go,” Oliver said from the backseat in a disgruntled voice as he pulled on his Arrow suit as best as he could given the circumstance. 

“Right, I’m on it,” Felicity said, sobering up immediately. “Barry take a left – now!” 

And Barry did. He was rusty as a driver, he knew that. But in his defense, he hadn’t had to drive a car for three years now. He didn’t even drive when Zoom stole his powers for a brief period of time. “Barry, I know you don’t really drive much,” Oliver said almost as if he was reading Barry’s mind. “But you have to go a _little_ faster.” 

“Right,” Barry said, his mind trying to focus on the road and the instructions Felicity was giving him. “Sorry,” he added. 

When they got to the location, Barry parked a block away from the building Felicity tracked Vigilante’s heat signature to. Diggle was already waiting for them there, leaning against his bike as he watched them park. Oliver and Barry got out of the car, Oliver donned in his Arrow suit, holding onto his suit’s blazer that he wore at dinner and pulled out a few of the arrows he had stashed inside and his quiver, that he clicked open so it formed its full shape. He had some cool gadgets. He looked up and noticed Barry was looking at him with one eyebrow cocked in question. 

“Always be prepared, right?” he said to him. 

“Right,” Barry agreed half-heartedly. Oliver tossed the blazer back into the backseat and shut the door, just as Barry sped off somewhere. 

Oliver walked to Diggle and gave him a questioning look as the other man just watched him in what seemed to be amusement. “Can I help you with something, John?” he asked, getting more and more frustrated by the events of the evening. 

“He’s pissed, you know,” Diggle said, off-handedly, already walking towards the block where Vigilante was stationed. 

Oliver looked at him in surprise and looked back to check if Barry had returned from wherever he went. “How do you know?” he asked quietly. 

Diggle looked at him in surprise this time. “You’ve been out of the game too long, my friend,” he said simply, and didn’t even jump when Barry appeared beside him, donned in his Flash suit. 

“I’ve got Cisco on my comms. He can tell us what kind of weapon we’re working with here,” he said in a clipped tone. 

“Right,” Oliver said, getting worried of Barry’s apparent bad mood as they walked in silence to the building. “Where’s Roy and Thea?” he asked Diggle instead. 

“In the Glades. Would’ve taken them too long to get here,” Diggle said casually. 

Oliver looked at him with a stony expression. “But you had no problem asking me to come from dinner?” 

Diggle shrugged. “It’s closer, and you would’ve been pissed either way,” he said, not even phased at Oliver’s mood, knowing the other man too well. 

“It’s okay,” Barry interjected, looking straight ahead. “He’s just mad because he didn’t get to buy an 80-dollar dessert.” 

“I _knew_ you didn’t like the restaurant,” Oliver said in a low voice. 

“Vigilante isn’t alone, you guys,” Felicity’s voice came to all of them before Barry could respond. “Sorry, Barry, Cisco, I hacked into your comms, it’s just easier than connecting them, honestly,” she said hastily as Cisco made protest noises on the other side. “Anyways, he’s got like fifteen people with him, maybe more, but I just did an ariel scan with the Star Labs satellite – sorry about that again – and I picked up on them. I think there’s a trade going on.” 

“Yeah, there’s about five downstairs, two on the roof, but they’re already knocked out, and the rest are on the 8th floor,” Barry added. 

Diggle looked at him dumbfounded, “How do you know?” 

Barry shrugged, “Checked it out before I joined you guys. Scope the area, right?” he added, looking at Oliver. 

Oliver just nodded, already wearing his customary grumpy expression. “We’re on it,” Oliver informed Felicity as he kicked the door to the abandoned building open. 

The three entered, immediately encountering the five-armed men Barry mentioned. Barry easily took them down before Oliver and Diggle could bat an eye. “Bare -” Oliver warned. 

“If it helps us get out of here faster, I'm not about to back down,” he said, his tone still in that clipped voice it was in earlier. 

“He’s got a point, you know,” Diggle said, his eyes on the alert, his gun pointing straight ahead of him as he looked around. 

It took them about ten minutes before they encountered Vigilante himself on the 8th floor. Oliver faced off with the criminal while Barry and Diggle took down the other men. It was indeed a trade situation happening, but they seemingly intervened at the right time. 

When the other men Barry was fighting against were taken down, Barry tried to come closer to help Oliver but he was stopped. “No, Flash, he’s mine,” Oliver said in his Arrow voice. 

“I can _help_ you,” Barry protested. 

“You can help me by getting out of the way,” Oliver grunted. Barry didn’t know what to do. He was standing still, watching Diggle face off with two of the remaining gunmen, as Oliver went head-to-head with Vigilante. 

Barry felt frustrated and annoyed. He could have finished this fight if Oliver just _let_ him. But he knew better than anyone what it was like disobeying Oliver’s command on a mission. 

Instead, he watched the two fight. Unable to move and do anything. He went to assist Diggle, who was still fighting, hoping at least someone would let him help. Just then, he saw a flash of lightning outside the window. It wasn’t regular lightening – it was lightening emitted by a speedster. 

“Barry, please tell me you picked up on that,” Cisco said into his ear. 

“I’m already on it,” Barry replied, speeding off to find the source. 

He ran around the city twice, not sure what he saw, but knowing he didn’t imagine it if Cisco saw it through the street cameras, too. 

Oliver spoke urgently into his ear as he ran through the city, feeling intense desperation to find the speedster, “Flash, where are you going?” 

Barry didn’t even have the patience to explain right now. He was getting frustrated and the feeling was building inside him like a glass about to break. “I’ll be right back,” he said impatiently. 

He located the lightning and chased after it, coming to a stop at the top of a building. 

“Dammit,” Oliver’s voice said in a low grunt. “Flash, are you okay?” he asked, clearer, this time. 

“Stay where you are,” Barry told him. 

“Flash...” Oliver said, unsure. 

“I said, _stay where you are!”_ he said fiercely into his comms. 

The other speedster was donned in black. A lightning bolt emboldened on his chest. Barry couldn’t see his face. 

“Who are you?” Barry asked. 

But the other speedster didn’t speak. He turned to face Barry completely, and what Barry saw terrified him to his core. “The only one with the power to stop you, _Flash_ ,” the speedster said with venom in a low, but strong and heavy voice. It didn’t sound like the voice that belonged to a human. And then the speedster was gone. Like, _literally_ gone. Disappeared into thin air as if Barry imagined him to be there the whole time. 

“That was weird, right?” Barry asked Cisco uncertainly. 

“Definitely weird,” Cisco agreed. “Barry, did you see his suit? It was black. It was kind of like he was … _Black Flash,”_ he said in that voice he would use when he thought of a new name for one of their enemies with special powers. 

“Cisco, you gotta try and find him, okay?” Barry said, worried. 

“Already on it,” he replied. 

Barry ran back to Oliver and Diggle in the building. Vigilante was nowhere in sight, and the window to their right was broken. “What happened?” he asked, looking around. 

“He got away,” Oliver said, sounding annoyed. “Where did you go?” 

“Nowhere that needed a suit and tie, don’t worry,” Barry retorted, getting equally annoyed and moving towards Diggle who was holding what looked like the gun Vigilante was trying to sell. 

Oliver pressed his lips together and turned to Barry. “I _knew_ you didn’t like the restaurant,” he said. 

“Let’s just assume for argument's sake I don’t particularly like anywhere that I have to wear a suit and tie,” Barry responded, turning to face him, too. 

“Do you two need a minute?” Diggle responded, unsure of what to do. 

“No,” Barry and Oliver both said together. Oliver sighed. “Let’s get back to the armory, Felicity needs to start analyzing this weapon.” 

“You going to drive this time or you want someone else to take the reins? Maybe we could wake up one of these gunmen,” Barry said sarcastically. He didn’t know where this venom was coming from. He wasn’t even _this_ upset. Black Flash must have unnerved him more than he thought. 

Oliver looked at Barry again, his expression was dangerously calm. “Why don’t you just meet us there?” 

He didn’t have to be told twice. Barry ran to the armory and waited for Oliver and Diggle as he took his cowl off and sat beside Felicity. “I’m guessing dinner wasn’t great?” she said after a moment. 

“No, dinner was fine,” Barry said, resting his chin on his hands. “I don’t know, I feel kind of weird now. He’s just so – so stubborn sometimes. For unnecessary reasons, you know?” 

“Oh, I _know,”_ Felicity responded. “But look, you guys work together. Don’t let this life – your superhero, crime-fighting life, get in the way of that.” 

Barry nodded. “Guess we have to lay down some ground rules if we want to make this work, huh?” 

“Might be a good place to start,” she said, as the elevator dinged, signaling that the other two had arrived. 

Oliver had taken off his hood and mask, and Diggle had taken off his helmet. “Here’s the gun, Felicity,” Oliver said in a quiet voice, handing her the weapon. 

“I’ll run some tests, ASAP, boss,” she said, picking it up. “And, wow that’s heavy. I’m gonna need Curtis’s help on this.” 

“And I’ll... leave you two,” Diggle said before turning around and joining Felicity. 

Oliver looked at Barry, who wouldn’t quite meet his eyes. “Hey, let’s uh, get out of here,” he said, nodding towards the elevator. 

“You don’t wanna change first?” Barry asked him, curious. 

Oliver nodded. “Sure, give me a minute,” he said. “I’ll be right back.” 

“Me too,” Barry said with a small smile. He returned forty-five seconds later in jeans and a sweatshirt, waiting by the elevator for Oliver. 

The man in question returned a few moments later and the two left the armory in silence. Neither of them said a word to each other. Not when they got in the car. Not when Oliver drove them through the city, back to his apartment. Not when they entered Oliver’s building and rode up the elevator. 

“I’m sorry,” Barry said finally when Oliver took out his keys to unlock his apartment door. 

Oliver shook his head, opening the door. “I’m the one who should be sorry,” he claimed, gesturing for Barry to enter. 

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Barry told him earnestly. 

“I took you on a first date to a restaurant you didn’t even like,” Oliver stated. “I’d say that’s not exactly the _right_ thing to do.” 

Barry shook his head as the two stood in front of each other on opposite ends of Oliver’s kitchen bar. “No, it was a lovely restaurant,” he said in a promising tone. 

“But it could have been better,” Oliver said with a sigh. 

“It could have been less... flashy,” Barry said, his face scrunching up in regret for the word he used. 

Oliver let out a huff. “Right.” He paused. “I’m sorry, either way. I didn’t intend for... the Arrow’s business to get in the way of,” he gestured between them, “us.” 

Barry smiled at him. “I know,” he said. He walked around the counter between them and took Oliver’s hands. “I don’t need to be in a fancy place with valet or fancy wine,” he started, stepping closer. “I just want to be with you. And our lives are complicated, no matter how much we try to pretend we can be normal, it's always going to be part of us. We just have to... I don’t know, stop acting like we can be okay with things just needing our interjection. I know I can’t sit still if I hear police sirens or see a mugging happening. I know you can’t relax unless you’ve punched something at least _once_ every day,” and Oliver let out another short laugh at that, knowing Barry was right. 

“I guess we shouldn’t pretend we aren’t still the Green Arrow and the Flash even if all we want to be is Barry and Oliver,” he said softly, looking into Barry’s green eyes and feeling himself crumbling. 

Barry nodded with a smile. “It doesn’t make a difference to me even if you are, you know,” he said to him, not letting Oliver look away from him, knowing the other man didn’t do too well with eye contact most of the time. “There isn’t anything interchangeable about it. You’re just... one person in my eyes. One inspiring, _hot_ , grumpy, stubborn, secretly sappy, and adorable person. Whether you’re in a hood or not.” 

Oliver smiled in spite of himself. He took one hand out of Barry’s and instead pulled him closer by the waist. “I’m not that grumpy,” he claimed in a low voice, their faces dangerously close to each other. 

“Mm, sure you aren’t,” Barry said in mock agreement, grinning as his lips met Oliver’s. They both felt that electricity again, coursing through both of them that had nothing to do with superspeed but entirely to do with their connection. They moved together easily, feeling something lighter in the air with their kiss as if they were lifted into the air and freed of all their worries. And Barry wasn’t concerned about the Black Flash, and Oliver didn’t think of Vigilante. Nothing existed in this realm they created except each other. Barry pulled back slightly and whispered, “Now, I know it’s not even close to that four-cheese ravioli that you ordered at the restaurant, but how about I get us a pizza straight from Coast City?” 

Oliver’s frame shook with soft laughter. “ _Please,_ that would be great,” he said. 

Barry leaned in for another chaste kiss and pulled back with a cheeky smile. “Be back in a flash.” And he easily caught the other man shaking his head at his pun with the regular faux-annoyed expression he usually wore when Barry made jokes like that. 

And Barry wouldn’t know it, but Oliver would let him make jokes like that forever if it meant he got to see that smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it! I know I've set a lovely standard with this unnecessarily long ass chapter, but please don't get used to it, because i had to practically beg my brain to stop typing. Anyways, the next chapter could even be less than 3000 words. You never know. But i also love writing about these two so idk maybe i'm just hoping its shorter on behalf of my hands cramping.  
> Thank you for all the kudos and comments on the first chapter! I love hearing your feedback and seeing you guys enjoy this! Thanks for reading!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wait - boyfriend? Are we boyfriends? Are you sure? Like this isn’t because of my text this morning, right? Because I wasn’t trying to pressure you – you would tell me if it was too fast right? Is this too fast?” 

It had been nine days since Barry and Oliver’s first date. They had decided that spontaneity is what really worked for them because with their lives and the uncertainty they were susceptible to at all times, they were more than aware that planning never really got them anywhere. Instead, they decided to leave the planning to the universe. 

This new spontaneity allowed them to have three dates in one week. Neither of them was too upset by this because it allowed them to spend more time together – something that was never promised when you lived the lives they did. It was also why neither of them was too worried that they might be moving too fast. 

Except now that they’d officially had four dates, there was a natural next step that awaited them. The sex step. And it terrified Oliver. 

Oliver had had sex. Lots of it. With lots of people. But it never really meant anything with most of them. 

Maybe with Laurel, sure. Shado, maybe. But with Barry? It meant something completely different. 

Sex used to be meaningless to Oliver. A prime example of that being how one time with a random girl resulted in the creation of his _son._ A son he didn’t even know about. A son who expected him to be better. 

So, yeah, Oliver was terrified. The self-sabotager in him was begging him to get out before it all got too serious with Barry. Sex always made things more complicated, to say the least. And, _Jesus_ , he never wanted to let things get complicated for or with Barry. 

The younger man looked at him like he hung up the stars, with a smile full of sunshine and joy. No one had ever looked at him like that before. He remembered the first time Barry looked at him like that. It was after they first met. After Barry woke up from his 9-month coma. After he called Oliver for advice on what to do. It was the day they first teamed up together. When Oliver finally agreed to let them work together. The smile overtook Barry’s face before it seemed like the man fully comprehended what was happening. It was a smile of sunshine and happiness and excitement. It took Oliver’s breath away. And he’s been scared to death ever since. 

He’s been scared to feel. He’s been scared to let himself even think of an outcome that allows him to be happy with someone that he loves. His life has proven to him time and time again that he isn’t going to get to do that. 

But life with Barry was different. 

Every time he felt scared, Barry smiled at him, and it was enough to temporarily eradicate that fear and leave him feeling something different. Something like … hope. 

It wasn’t easy getting to this point. He had long since felt actual hope. Even if he did, he wasn’t used to letting himself indulge in the possibilities that having hope held for him. 

And then Barry came along, with his bright smile and hopeful demeanor. And he made him question everything Oliver believed in. Truth be told, he was a goner when he really got to know Barry; got to feel close to him, like he could trust him with everything, and rely on him – depend on him. He wasn’t sure when that happened, really. It could’ve been the first time they teamed up. It could have also been the time he attacked Barry when he saved his life the first time they met. Everything since had been a whirlwind – something unexplainable, something he was unable to pinpoint. In the years following up to right now, they laughed together, saved lives together, learned from each other, helped each other, grew with each other, flirted with each other, and in the deepest crevices of their brains, wished for even more with each other. 

Oliver was used to disappointing and being disappointed. To say he wasn’t would be an understatement. But he was so tired of feeling disappointed. He didn’t want to be disappointed this time. Not with Barry. 

He rolled over in his bed, facing the windows that streamed in sunlight. He briefly wondered what his bed would feel like with Barry in it. 

The thought filled him with some warm feeling he didn’t understand, so he shook it away and got up from the bed. 

He picked up his phone from the nightstand and saw some text messages in his notifications, and most of those few were from Barry. He opened those first. Naturally. 

**Barry (7:46 AM)**

_Good morning. Can I just say I've always wanted to be one of those cheesy people who text good morning to their significant other?_

**Barry (7:47 AM)**

_Not that I'm implying we’re significant others you know like not boyfriends or anything, I know we haven’t quite exactly established what we are which is totally cool! Like no biggie or anything_

_This isn’t how I wanted to wish you good morning._

_Oh my god please ignore me._

_Good morning._

_That's all._

_Oh and also have a good day_ _😊_

**Barry (7:49 AM)**

_I can’t wait till they create the update for you to delete your messages for the other person too. We all know_ _it's_ _coming. It’s needed. They need to do it. Maybe I'll convince Cisco to develop it._

Oliver had a small smile on his face as he read the text messages on his phone. He rubbed a hand over his face and ran that hand through his short hair. This man was really going to crack all the walls Oliver had worked so hard to build, wasn’t he? 

**Oliver (8:06 AM)**

_Good morning, Barry._

He began getting ready for work as his phone buzzed again. 

**Barry (8:11 AM)**

_Good morning, Ollie._   
  


_Do u think the universe would let us indulge in lunch?_

**Oliver (8:12 AM)**

_It better. If there’s Thai food involved. Thai food sounds great right now._

**Barry (8:12 AM)**

_Noted._ _😀_

Oliver rolled his eyes fondly at Barry’s excessive usage of emojis. It was kind of cute. There goes down the composure wall he built, crumbling into rubble. 

***************************************************************************** 

Barry was working in his lab when he got a distress signal from Caitlin. He looked up across his desk and saw Julian writing notes in the case file in front of him. 

“Hey, I gotta step out for a bit,” Barry informed him despite himself. 

Julian didn’t even look up at him. “Of course, you are, Allen,” he said in his snarky British accent. “Still have no work ethic, I see.” 

Barry rolled his eyes and walked out of his lab, speeding to Star Labs as soon as he was down the hall. He skidded to a halt in the cortex, seeing Caitlin and Cisco in front of him, both bending over the screen in front of them. “What’s up? I thought it was an emergency?” he asked them, looking around in case there was someone else there that he missed. 

“Oh, it’s definitely an emergency,” Cisco told him, holding his tablet and walking towards Barry. Cisco showed him the screen. “Turns out emo-you isn’t an actual _human_ speedster.” 

“What do you mean?” Barry said, confused, then looking at the screen. “Wait, this is the same reading from the breach you opened to the Speedforce.” 

Cisco nodded as Caitlin joined them. “He’s got insane amounts of energy radiating from him every time he appears,” she explained. “It’s kind of like he _is_ the Speedforce.” 

“Like a Wraith demon,” Barry said solemnly. 

“It would explain why he just disappears into thin air,” Cisco added. 

Barry walked a bit away from them and leaned heavily on the table. He let out a sigh. “Then I guess we have to figure out why the Speedforce is after me through him,” he said gravely. 

“More importantly, how to stop him,” Cisco said in a confident tone. 

Barry nodded, pulling out his phone. It was 12:45 already. He was supposed to meet Oliver soon but figured he should stay here and help his friends work out a way to stop this … force. “I’ll be right back,” he told the other two who nodded in acknowledgment. 

“Hey! BA!” HR Wells said in his regular upbeat greeting, a grin on his face with a cup of coffee in one hand and his drumsticks in the other. 

Barry just shook his head at him as he headed out the cortex to call Oliver. The other man picked up in a few rings. 

“Hey, Bare, are you on your way here?” Oliver asked as soon as he picked up, his voice light, cheerful – a very rare trait in Oliver. 

Barry already felt the guilt welling up in him as he leaned against the wall in the hallway. “Actually, I think I'll have to take a raincheck on lunch today,” he said apologetically. 

On the other end of the line, Oliver furrowed his eyebrows in concern. “Oh...” he started slowly. “Is everything okay?” 

Barry ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah. Well, no. Cisco and Caitlin found some information against the other speedster – well other _speed thing_ ,” he explained dumbly. “We’re going to work out how to stop it or how to track it.” 

Oliver hummed into the phone. “I see,” he said, not wanting to sound _too_ disappointed. God, he was becoming so soft with this man. “Well, stay safe. Let me know if you need help.” 

“I will,” Barry said with a half-smile. “Thank you. And I’m sorry. I was looking forward to today.” 

“No, you don’t have to apologize,” Oliver said reassuringly. “I get it. Besides, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time to meet my boyfriend soon enough,” he added casually. 

“Yeah, of course,” Barry said, not picking up on what Oliver said immediately. “Wait - boyfriend? Are we boyfriends? Are you sure? Like this isn’t because of my text this morning, right? Because I wasn’t trying to pressure you – you would tell me if it was too fast right? Is this too fast?” 

Oliver chuckled. “See you later, Bare,” he said, intentionally ignoring Barry’s nervous rambling, knowing they would have time to discuss it later. 

“Wait - Ollie,” he tried, but Oliver had already hung up the phone. Well played, Mr. Queen, Barry thought with an amused smile as he looked at his phone. He then grinned despite the circumstance. When he was certain no one could see him, he punched the air in excitement. 

Oliver Queen just called him his boyfriend. It was enough to make _anyone_ want to celebrate. 

There would be time for that, later, though. 

***************************************************************************** 

It was 9 pm when Oliver finally sat down heavily on his couch in his apartment. It had been a long day at work. He was working as hard as he could manage to make sure he kept the company afloat. He was working twice as hard to make sure the Green Arrow was keeping his city safe. And it was only 9 pm and he was exhausted. He was glad he had a team backing him. He couldn’t even imagine what he’d do if it was just him, like before. It was hard enough maintaining this life back then. But now... now he had more responsibilities, more people relying on him. More people waiting for him to come home. 

His mind went to William. He had been talking with his son a lot and gaining what he hoped was a solid relationship with him. It was refreshing, to say the least. He was so much smarter than Oliver had been at his age. And he saw Oliver and didn’t see his past. He just saw him. Granted, he was coming to terms with the fact that he was his father – a decision he and Samantha made together to tell him once and for all who he was in his life. But William didn’t hate him. At least, he hoped not. 

He almost dozed off on the couch when the doorbell rang. “Thea!” he called loudly. “Door!” 

There was no answer from his younger sister, though. She must either be at the armory or with Roy. He grunted as he unwillingly got up when the bell rang again. “Coming!” he called to the door. He was fully ready to chew off the head of whoever was outside when he swung the door open and was instead greeted with the most wonderful sight for his sore eyes. “Barry?” 

Barry stood outside Oliver’s apartment with a lopsided grin on his face and two takeout bags in his hand. “Hey,” he said happily. 

Though Oliver was slightly confused, he was happy to see the other man so he moved slightly to the side to let him in. “What’re you doing here?” he asked. “Not that I’m not happy to see you or anything, because I am.” 

Barry set the takeout bags on the kitchen counter and turned to face Oliver. He leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. Oliver blushed at the gesture, though he pretended he didn’t. Unbelievable what this man was doing to him. 

“I felt bad that we had to cancel lunch, and I made sure you didn’t eat Thai food without me,” Barry informed him. “I asked Felicity,” he said sheepishly. “Anyways, I wanted to make it up to you.” 

Oliver smiled at him, pure and genuine. “You’re amazing,” he said softly. “God, I was starving.” 

Barry grinned again and began taking containers out of the bag. “Me too. Hence the reason I got so much food.” 

Oliver took out plates and spoons from the cupboard while Barry worked on opening the food containers and discarding the bags. He passed a plate to Barry and watched as the speedster filled it to its entirety, always in awe of how much he could actually eat. When he filled his own plate of food, the two sat together on the sofa that Oliver was occupying earlier. 

“So,” Oliver started as he swallowed his first bite. “Any luck on that speedster you guys were searching for?” 

Barry, who was in the process of chewing himself, took a few moments to swallow before sighing. “No,” he said looking stressed. “It’s so complicated.” He began to fill Oliver in on what they had learned about the Black Flash and the ways they had devised to try and figure out what he wanted. 

“Cisco can’t just … do his vibe thing and figure out what he wants?” Oliver asked, genuinely curious. 

Barry shook his head as he explained, “No, he can’t. Apparently, Cisco can’t vibe beings that aren’t really … _beings._ Something about particles or wavelengths, I don’t know. I wasn’t really listening to his explanation of how his power works if I’m being honest – but don’t tell him that.” 

Oliver nodded. He probably wouldn’t have understood even if Barry had actually known what the reason was. “So, you were distracted, huh?” he chose to say instead, placing his empty plate on the table in front of them, and taking Barry’s now-empty plate from his hands and placing it on the table, too. He scooched a few inches closer to Barry. 

Barry smirked at him, knowing what he was implying. “You could say that,” he said. 

“You know, you should really not get distracted on the job,” Oliver told him in faux-seriousness. “It could really get you in trouble.” 

Barry shrugged, moving his head slightly closer to Oliver’s. “I’m always getting into trouble,” he said in a low voice. “Can’t help it, really.” 

“What was distracting you?” Oliver asked, his eyes darkening as he looked at Barry. 

Barry let his hands roam over Oliver’s arms as he considered the question. “Just, you know,” he said off-handedly. “My hot _boyfriend,”_ he said, stressing the word deeply. 

“Boyfriend, huh?” Oliver said with a smile. 

Barry nodded. “Yup. He said so himself today. I mean it was kind of bold of you to assume we’re boyfriends.” 

Oliver moved his head back quickly, searching Barry’s face in confusion. “I - sorry, you’re right – do you not want to be? It _was_ too quick for me to say that right? I mean technically we’ve only been really going out one week so it is pretty fast, even for _you_ ,” Oliver said apologetically. 

Barry’s expression softened even more than it already was, and his eyes did that twinkling thing again that drove Oliver to the edge of a cliff where he felt himself being pushed as he fell further and further for the man in front of him. “You made a speed joke,” he said with a broad, cheeky grin. “I never thought the day would come.” 

Oliver shoved him slightly in a playful manner and looked at him with his regular stoic expression. “Bare.” 

“Of course, I want to be your boyfriend,” he said with a big, happy smile. “And I don’t care if it’s too fast. We’ve witnessed the world almost ending at least thrice now, and nothing is too fast after you go through something like that.” 

The archer just smiled at him and rubbed his hand on his knee. “Good,” was all he said. Words really _weren’t_ his strong suit. 

“Good,” Barry repeated. 

And lucky for him, Oliver had another strong suit. He leaned into Barry’s face, his hand still on Barry’s knee, but sliding closer to his upper thigh, and kissed him. Barry leaned into the kiss, his hands moving of their own accord to Oliver’s shoulders to his back, pulling him closer. As the kiss got more heated, and Oliver’s tongue entered Barry’s mouth, the archer’s hand slipped even further up Barry to the edge of his shirt. 

Barry’s hands were in Oliver’s hair, trailing his arms – everywhere. Oliver repositioned them as he moved so that Barry was lying back on the couch and Oliver was on top of him – all the while keeping their lips connected. In this position, it was easier for Barry’s hands to roam through Oliver’s torso, now opting to move under his shirt and feel the scarred skin on his back. 

It was happening. It was really happening. Oliver’s thoughts were spinning in his head as he felt something shifting between him and Barry at this moment. He could feel it. They were close. 

As Oliver’s hands moved up Barry’s shirt, and he felt the other man in _another_ place, knowing full well that Barry could probably feel him more and more, too, the door to the apartment opened. 

“Oh my god, _ew_ _,”_ Thea Queen’s voice rang through the apartment. 

“I have to burn my eyes out, now,” said another voice belonging to Roy Harper. 

Barry used his speed to reposition him and Oliver and sat at the far end of the couch as Oliver blinked and tried to figure out what just happened. 

“Hey, guys,” Oliver said, clearing his throat awkwardly. 

Barry gave a half-wave at the other two, his other hand covering his face. “Sup,” he said in a low voice. 

“I guess you’re really giving me the full college experience that I never had,” Thea said in half-disgust. “Maybe put a sock on the doorknob next time.” 

“Or hold it shut with one of your arrows,” Roy added, unable to look either of them in the eye, opting instead to focus on a spot on the wall next to him. 

Oliver let out a small chuckle. “Right.” 

“Why did no one tell me Oliver and Barry are hooking up?” Roy said suddenly, looking between Thea and Oliver. 

“We’re not – hooking up...” Barry piped up awkwardly. 

Roy just raised his eyebrows in question. 

“We’re dating,” Oliver stated as-a-matter-of-factly, a smile growing on his face. 

Roy just raised his eyebrows even more. “Wait,” he started, thinking hard. “Who made the first move? Please tell me it wasn’t Barry.” 

Oliver looked confused. He looked back at Barry behind him and then at Roy again. “Um, well I guess I did?” 

Roy let out a loud, “Yes!” and punched the air. Thea just rolled her eyes at his reaction. 

“Am I missing something here?” Oliver asked to the room, still confused. 

Roy sobered up and just shook his head with a smile. “Iris owes me sixty bucks,” he informed him. 

“What?” Oliver asked in bewilderment. Then it clicked. “You guys placed _bets_ on us?” 

Barry rubbed his face with his hand and pinched the space between his eyes. 

It was Thea who spoke next. “Yeah, like two years ago,” she said in an unbothered tone. “And I lost sixty bucks, thanks to you, Barry.” 

Barry’s eyes widened as Oliver looked back at him. “Sorry? I guess?” he said, unsure of what to actually say. 

“Yeah, whatever,” Thea said, waving her hand dismissively. “Now that we know you two are out here, _we_ will be up there,” she said, taking Roy’s hand and nodding up to the second story of the apartment where her bedroom was. 

“Gross,” Oliver let out in a small voice, watching his sister walk up the stairs. “Don’t do anything inappropriate.” 

“Fine, you don’t either,” she retorted before they disappeared from view completely and heard a door shut a moment later. 

Oliver paused and then looked at Barry a few seconds later. When Barry said nothing, he raised his eyebrows. Barry looked at him, still evidently awkward after the encounter. “What?” he asked reproachfully. “Do you seriously want to –? Oh my god, Ollie -” Oliver said nothing. “I am literally unable to recover from that, let alone go back to doing what we were doing _.”_

Oliver rolled his eyes and instead picked up the remote from the coffee table beside him. “Fine,” he said, resigned. “I guess we’ll just watch a movie, then,” and he began scrolling through titles on Netflix. 

Barry moved back to his side and looked at him sheepishly. “Sorry,” he said, leaning into his side. “It’s really a bit of a mood killer.” He looked down at a certain...area and gave an embarrassed smile. 

Oliver huffed a laugh and put his arm around Barry, letting himself feel close to him in a sort of … sweeter way, it seemed. “It’s alright,” he told him. 

When they settled on a movie, Barry quietly piped up again, “Are we going to talk about what almost happened?” 

Oliver felt himself stiffen. He really hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but it seemed like it was. He cleared his throat as he slowly let out, “Do you … _want_ to talk about it?” His eyes darted everywhere except at Barry beside him. 

Barry straightened up from where his head was on Oliver’s shoulder and sat facing the older man instead, even though Oliver’s focus was still straight ahead of him at the TV. “Maybe?” Barry asked, unclear of what to do himself. “I don’t know. But … I think we should talk anyway.” 

“You couldn’t have decided that before we put this movie on?” Oliver asked him pointedly, gesturing to the TV where an Adam Sandler movie was playing. “This came out after I left for the island, you know. I saw the trailer before I boarded the ship. I’ve been wanting to watch it since then.” 

Barry rolled his eyes at the feeble excuse Oliver was making. “That’s what the pause button’s for,” and he stole the remote from Oliver’s hand and paused the movie. “Look,” he said, taking Oliver’s hand. “You know I’m really happy with you, right?” 

Oliver looked into his eyes searchingly, then. “Yeah,” he said. “I mean you’re telling me now, so I guess. I’m happy with you, too.” 

Barry smiled. “Okay,” he said, fiddling with Oliver’s fingers slightly, feeling the calluses that seemed permanently engraved into his skin from the years of skilled archery. “I haven’t told anyone besides Iris about us,” he told him softly and slowly, not quite looking at Oliver, but at his hands instead. 

Oliver nodded, unsure of where this was going. “Okay...” he said in response. “That’s okay.” 

“Yeah, like, I know,” Barry said, nodding too. “It’s just...” he trailed off, trying to find the right way to say what he was thinking, still not meeting Oliver’s eyes. 

Oliver looked at him, feeling like Barry really wanted to get something off his chest. He held Barry’s chin in his hands, forcing him to look at him. “What’s up, Bare?” he said gently. “You can tell me anything, you know that right?” 

Barry nodded again. “I know,” he said earnestly. He took a deep breath and started speaking again. “Oliver, I’ve had feelings for you for a while. You know this, don’t you?” 

Oliver gave a cheeky smile. “I’ve had my suspicions, yes.” 

Barry gave him an exasperated but fond look. “Right,” he said. “You also know my luck in terms of relationships hasn’t always been the best.” 

“Neither has mine, really,” Oliver confessed. 

Oliver slipped his hands inside Barry’s, rubbing his thumb over the younger man’s knuckles as he listened to him speak. “I know things have been kind of rushed between us,” he said in a low voice. “I mean no one actually makes things official after just a _week_ of dating.” 

Oliver furrowed his brows, confused. “Is that not what you want? You don’t want to make things official so fast?” 

Barry hastened to reply, not wanting Oliver to think for a single moment that he didn’t want this. “No, no, of _course,_ I do,” he insisted. “I mean, I really do, I promise.” 

“Okay,” Oliver tried. “Then what?” 

Barry took another breath to settle himself. “I just don’t want to ruin this,” he said in a rushed breath. 

Oliver was still confused. “You’re not ruining anything, Barry,” he reassured him, one hand rubbing up and down Barry’s forearm as the other was still laced in his. 

“I just feel like we’ve already moved so fast that I’m scared that telling more people will, I don’t know,” Barry tried to find the word for a brief second before continuing. “I don’t know, _jinx_ us, I guess.” 

Oliver chuckled softly as he understood what Barry meant. “God, Bare,” he stroked Barry’s cheek for a second. “I mean, look, I understand the fear, I do. But I don’t want to live in fear when I’m with you.” And he really meant it, too. 

Barry’s expression considerably softened. “I don’t want to live in fear with you, either,” he confessed. “I’m not upset about how fast we’re moving. I’m just worried that if we keep moving so fast, we won’t get to savor the moment of just being together like this, you know? Like, _learning_ each other in this new way. It’s like … like I want to take my time, and get to know you all over again, as someone that’s - that’s my _boyfriend._ Does that make sense?” His eyes were wide and hopeful, aching for Oliver to understand where he was coming from, and not wanting to hurt the other man’s feelings at any cost. 

Oliver just smiled at him, it was warm and created a wrinkle around his eyes. Barry wanted to kiss it off his face. He didn’t. “I get it,” he told him. “And it makes sense. I want to savor us being like this, too. Is that why you haven’t told Joe?” 

“That, and the fact that he’d probably threaten to shoot you or something,” Barry said without thinking through what he was saying. 

Oliver looked taken aback. “Shoot me? Why would he shoot me?” 

Barry’s eyes widened slightly, then he ran a hand through his hair as he searched for the words. “Something Iris said,” he said decidedly. “That Joe doesn’t really... like you very much.” 

“Wow,” Oliver said, surprised. “I mean, I kind of already knew he didn’t like me. So, wait – does this mean he wouldn’t … approve of us dating?” 

Barry shrugged. “It’s a guessing game, really,” he said. “But … I guess I've also just been wanting to be in this little bubble with you, and not let anyone else in. Even though apparently your whole _team_ knows.” 

“Yeah, you can thank Felicity and John for that,” Oliver said, scratching his beard slightly. “Felicity sent a group text,” he explained. “Roy doesn’t check his texts. Explains why he didn’t know, it seems,” he added with an eye-roll. 

“It’s fine,” Barry said with a laugh. “I guess I can let someone else into my Oliver bubble.” 

“Oh, that’s what you’re calling it now?” Oliver asked with a smirk, his hands finding Barry’s again. 

Barry nodded. “That’s right. It’s the best place to be, you know?” 

“I can imagine,” Oliver said, leaning in and capturing Barry’s lips in a kiss. 

Barry pulled back after a moment and looked at Oliver. “I will tell Joe, and everyone else in my life,” he promised. “Just … not right now. Is that okay? I mean – does that make you upset?” 

Oliver considered this for a moment. “No, Bare,” he said decidedly. “I know where you’re coming from. I wouldn’t want to make you rush into anything you aren’t comfortable with, and I wouldn’t force you to tell people anyway.” 

“It’s just that … I want to get used to being like this with you before other people get to know about it,” Barry explained carefully. 

Oliver nodded. “I understand,” he said. “And I’m sorry if my team’s knowledge of this intercepts that for you. I’ve already told Felicity not to tell anyone else without clearing it with me, first.” 

Barry smiled and touched Oliver’s face for a brief second in a gentle graze. “Thank you. Thanks for getting it. I’m sorry for being so annoying about it.” 

“Hey, you’re not, don’t say that,” Oliver said softly, quick to reprimand him. He gripped Barry’s hand a little tighter. “I think everything that you’re saying makes perfect sense. And I like the idea of being in a _Barry bubble,”_ he said with a smirk. 

Barry rolled his eyes. “Shut up, only I get to use the bubble thing. Come up with your own association,” he said, leaning forward and catching Oliver’s lips in a kiss. 

Before it got too heated, Barry pulled back again, his expression apologetic. “I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “We should probably talk about the other thing, too.” 

Oliver’s expression became slightly more serious. “Other thing?” he asked, unsure of what Barry meant. 

“The...” Barry cleared his throat. “The sex thing.” 

Oliver looked down, not meeting Barry’s eyes again. “Right...” he said slowly. 

Barry was quick to reassure him, though. “I mean I _want_ to, like Jesus, I _really_ want to,” he told him. “But... the speed thing. Can we apply it for this, too?” 

Oliver looked at him as his words slowly dawned on him. “You want to … wait to have sex?” he asked, making sure he understood correctly. 

Barry looked abashed; he ducked his head as his face reddened slightly. “I - yeah, I mean – if that’s okay with you?” 

Knowing he could pretty much say nothing here that disagreed with Barry, he felt himself smiling despite it not quite meeting the way he felt internally. “Of course,” Oliver said. “I’m in no rush.” It wasn’t a total lie. He _did_ really want to have sex with Barry, but from his earlier fear about taking the sex step, it actually made him feel better, too, if he was being honest. Maybe he was just slightly upset _right now_ because he was horny. And also because Barry looked _so_ gorgeous with his slightly puffy lips from kissing and his ruffled hair. So, yeah, he was horny right now but he was still scared. This was the right step to take. 

“Okay,” Barry said with a grin. He leaned back into Oliver’s side and pressed play on the TV. Oliver just held on tightly to Barry. Being like this with him wasn’t so bad, either. It was wonderful, actually, and he might just be able to get used to this. He just hoped that the universe would let him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I'm cheesy as hell. Angst is coming soon, though. Never fear.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry thought the sound of his laugh alone was enough to make him fall off a cliff and dive into an unknown nothingness that consisted of only Oliver. Deeper and deeper he would let himself fall into Oliver’s everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since we love pretending so much in this AU we have created, let's pretend that Barry lives in the loft he and Iris live in together on the show, but he lives in it alone.
> 
> ***
> 
> Can someone also please explain to me why AO3 puts weird spaces between the words randomly after I post it? I hate it so much, it drives me crazy. I only ever notice it does that after it's posted. Ugh.

A month. 

That is how long Oliver and Barry had been dating. 

A month and a half, almost, really. And Barry still hadn’t told anyone besides Iris about it. In fact, he hadn’t even spoken to Iris about it more since their first date, despite how much she asked him about it. Barry hadn’t mentioned this to Oliver, hadn’t even brought up telling anyone from the time they talked about it. He didn’t think it was important, and he didn’t want Oliver to feel weird for any reason – not that he even had any reason to feel weird. 

It just didn’t feel like the right time to tell Joe or anyone else. He and Oliver had just gotten into a good flow, why should he risk anything to jeopardize that? He knew that publicizing their relationship wouldn’t do any good for either of them. It would just lead to a lot of questions like ‘when, how, _why_ , WHEN?’ And not just from Barry’s friends or family, but everyone else they knew. It was an unnecessary update to give to people. Barry didn’t find the use in doing it. And if Oliver wasn’t worried about it either then what was the problem? 

They hadn’t had sex yet, either. Because, again, Barry didn’t want things to jeopardize their relationship. Sex usually complicated things, right? But also, things had a way of happening naturally, so if they were to have sex, it shouldn’t be something they forced. It should be something that happened in its own way. They had done other stuff. A _lot_ of other stuff. As much as you could do without the actual _sex_ part of it, but never the proper act of it. Barry saw no reason to push for it and instead chose to let it occur in its own way. 

**Ollie (7:03 PM)**

_Hey, Barry. I’m coming to Central this weekend._

_This,_ however, definitely complicated things. 

Barry looked at his phone screen, wondering why this made his stomach knot the way that it did. Oliver was just coming here. He might even just be coming to work. Why was Barry panicking? It didn’t mean anything, right? His thumbs hovered over his screen as he tried to figure what to say because his stomach really was badly knotting and he didn’t understand it. 

**Barry (7:05 PM)**

_Oh, cool. What’s the occasion?_

**Ollie (7:06 PM)**

_Well, I haven’t seen my boyfriend all week, and he runs here every time we meet, so I figured I'd go to him this time. Thought I'd give you a heads up._

Barry’s eyes widened at Oliver’s response. He was coming here for _him,_ and no other reason? If Oliver was coming here for Barry, that would mean he might want to meet his friends and family and hang out with him. That would mean exposing their relationship to the people in Barry’s life. And that thought was harrowing. Barry still didn’t understand why. 

**Ollie (7:07 PM)**

_Barry? You there?_

Barry took a steadying breath. He was presently sitting on the steps in the speed lab, trying to figure out how he’d play this. 

**Barry (7:07 PM)**

_Yeah, I’m here, sorry. I’m in the speed lab_ _rn_ _, just finished training._

_Are you sure you want to come here, though? I can run to you right now, you know. You don’t have to come out all this way, it doesn’t really make a difference for me but it requires effort for you._

**Ollie (7:08 PM)**

_No, I want to. I never get to come to you. Besides, I have a private jet, you know._

Barry sighed. He ran a hand through his hair and rested his chin on the hand as he considered this. This shouldn’t make him feel so worried and … weird. But it was. 

**Ollie (7:09 PM)**

_Are you … not okay with me coming?_

_I mean have some business to cover, too, you know. I’ve been prolonging it for a while, but I thought if I do it this week, I'd get to see you too, and maybe William... if he wants._

Barry chewed on the inside of his lip, unsure of what to say. If Oliver had business in Central, that would mean he wouldn’t be with Barry the whole time he was here. That could work, right? 

**Barry (7:10 PM)**

_Where are you staying?_

**Ollie (7:10 PM)**

_The company will book me a hotel. Why?_

**Barry (7:11 PM)**

_Because hotels in Central suck. Ask anyone. You can stay with me._

And that was it. He couldn’t take it back now. He’d told Oliver he could stay with him at his apartment for a whole weekend – essentially an open invite into his life and a mutual understanding that they might just take the next step and have sex. Living together after a month of dating was excessively fast, even for someone who had all the time in the world as he did. But it was just the weekend, Barry reminded himself. It wasn’t as if he was telling Oliver to move in with him, so why did it still feel like it was a terrifying circumstance? 

**Ollie (7:12 PM)**

_Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to impose on you._

Barry rolled his eyes. Leave it to Oliver to still be a gentleman even when Barry was inwardly panicking about this whole situation. 

**Barry (7:12 PM)**

_Of course, I’m sure. When do you get here?_

**Ollie (7:13 PM)**

_I should be getting there around noon, tomorrow. That’s Friday. In case you didn’t know. I’m only saying this because I know you have the worst time coordination known to man._

Barry let out a laugh at that. He was freaked out, but at least he knew Oliver really _knew_ him, even if it was over something as stupid as Barry’s lateness to everything. 

**Barry (7:13 PM)**

_Time is irrelevant when you’re a speedster._

**Ollie (7:14 PM)**

_Then how are u still always late to everything?_

**Barry (7:14 PM)**

_It’s a lifestyle, Ollie, you wouldn’t understand._

**Ollie (7:14 PM)**

_Okay, whatever u say. Should I come straight to yours from the airport?_

**Barry (7:15 PM)**

_Don’t be ridiculous, I will pick u up._

**Ollie (7:15 PM)**

_Are you sure? Won’t u be at work?_

**Barry (7:15 PM)**

_Yeah, I’ll take a half day,_ _dw_ _. I’ll be there at 12, cool?_

**Ollie (7:16 PM)**

_Okay. But that’s PM, meaning when the sun is out. Noon. Friday. Yes?_

Barry rolled his eyes. 

**Barry (7:16 PM)**

_Friday, 12 AM. Got it. See u at midnight._

**Ollie (7:16 PM)**

_Lol. Idiot. See you._

No reason to freak out at all. Right? 

*** 

Barry was heading towards the elevators at the precinct the next day at 11:30. If Oliver’s jet was getting in at 12, he figured he’d speed to the airport early and get some coffee while he waited, then they could both leave in the car that Oliver’s company would send for his pick-up. It was always better to be early anyway, even if he was speeding there, knowing him. 

“Hey, Bare, you leaving?” Joe called, walking out towards him where he stood by the elevator. 

Barry’s eyes widened slightly as he looked at Joe but tried to keep a cool composure. “Uh, yeah,” he said. “I’m taking a half-day.” 

Joe eyed him in an almost-suspicious way. “How come? Got a STAR Labs thing?” 

Barry thought for a second before responding, “No, it’s a – a kind of – well, I guess, sort of?” he said lamely. 

“You know, you’ve been acting real weird lately,” Joe said to him, still eyeing him in that dad way he always did when he thought his kids were keeping secrets from him. “Anything you want to tell me?” 

Barry just shook his head, and kept a straight face, “Nope,” he claimed shortly, his hands finding their way deep inside his pockets as his eyes darted around the precinct – anywhere besides Joe’s eyes. “Nothing. I really should be going, though, really, I'll see you later,” he added as the elevator arrived and he rushed to excuse himself from this conversation. 

“Yeah, you will,” Joe said in an obvious tone, his eyebrows furrowed at Barry. “At dinner? Tonight? You didn’t forget, did you?” 

Barry almost smacked his forehead in frustration at his own negligence. “Crap, today’s Friday,” he said more to himself than Joe, one foot already in the elevator and half his body leaning to the precinct. “Joe, I – I did forget, I’m sorry, I made plans,” he said apologetically, his eyes big and genuine but also nervous and worried. 

“Plans? For what?” Joe asked, his expression growing more and more confused and suspicious as their conversation flowed. 

“Allen, you coming or what?” a voice said behind Barry, and he whipped around to see another officer, Jonesy, looking at Barry with an annoyed look as he waited for him to make up his mind about whether or not he was entering the elevator fully or not. 

“Yes - yes,” Barry said hurriedly, looking at Joe with another apologetic look. “I have to go.” 

“Dinner, tonight, eight o'clock, no excuses,” Joe said warningly, a finger wagging at him as the elevator doors closed, obscuring him from Barry’s view. 

In the elevator, Barry leaned heavily on the wall and ran a hand through his hair. How was he going to figure this one out? 

*** 

“Hi, handsome,” Oliver said with a big smile on his face as he climbed down the steps of the jet and walked towards Barry who was already standing on the Aviation ramp where all the private jets landed in front of the town car that was parked and waiting for Oliver’s arrival. Rich people travel was cool. Oliver walked right up to Barry and gently put a hand on his face. “Thanks for coming, you didn’t have to,” he said softly, the smile on his face actually _radiant._

Barry placed a hand on Oliver’s forearm and squeezed slightly. “I wanted to,” he insisted. Barry leaned in, closing the distance between their faces, and placed a sweet kiss onto Oliver’s lips. “And, _man_ , is it worth it,” he added cheekily as he pulled back. 

“You’re a sap,” Oliver stated, though his eyes had a glimmer in them. “Let’s get out of here, I can almost feel the pilot’s homophobia radiating out of the cockpit,” he said as he pulled back with a suddenly disdainful expression. 

Barry didn’t comment but simply nodded, following Oliver towards the town car that the driver had on and running, and had already loaded his travel bag into. As they sat inside, Barry looked at Oliver who still looked slightly disgruntled. “How was the flight?” he asked softly as he gingerly placed his hand on Oliver’s where it was sat on his knee. 

Oliver turned his hand so that he could entwine his fingers with Barry’s. “Fine,” he started. “I don’t think that the pilot likes me very much, though. When he came to meet me, he asked why I was going to Central.” 

Barry looked at him curiously. “And?” he prompted. 

Oliver looked at him, then. “Told him I was coming to see my boyfriend,” he said with a shrug. “And he looked kinda mad about it, I don’t know.” 

Barry nodded, a small grimace on his own face, but didn’t say anything. 

“Are you … upset I said I had a boyfriend to a stranger?” Oliver asked after a moment. Barry looked up at that and found that Oliver was looking at him with a peculiar expression. 

“What? No,” Barry said quickly, confused at the question. “Of course not, why would I be?” 

Oliver shrugged slightly. “I don’t know, just wondering,” he said unsurely. “You seem quiet.” 

Barry smiled at Oliver and squeezed his hand. “I’m just thinking,” he told him. “I’m pretty sure I left dirty dishes in the sink and I don’t want you to think I'm disgusting.” 

Oliver let out a short chuckle. “I wouldn’t worry about that,” he told him assuredly. 

“I hope not,” Barry responded hopefully. 

The drive to Barry’s apartment complex took around twenty minutes which was mostly spent in a comfortable silence aside from short conversation between the two men who kept their hands clasped in each other’s on Oliver’s knee. 

“Are you excited to meet William?” Barry asked him casually as they got out of the car and he grabbed Oliver’s travel bag from where the driver had placed it on the curb outside the apartment complex. 

He led the way inside after punching in a four-digit code into the system that unlocked the front door to the building. “It’s 4-5-8-2, by the way,” Barry told him over his shoulder. 

“Uh, yeah, I am,” Oliver told him as he followed Barry inside the building. “I just hope he’s going to be happy to see me.” 

As they approached the elevator, Barry pressed the button for its signal. “He will be,” Barry assured him cheerfully. “I mean, how could he not? He’s got a pretty cool dad.” 

The elevator dinged its doors open and the two entered. Oliver’s face was mostly serious like he was deep in thought. “I hope you’re right,” was all he said as he leaned on the wall of the elevator, directly opposite from Barry. 

Barry just shrugged, his bright, sunny grin taking over his face. “Of course, I am,” he said. “I already told you this, I’m smarter than you.” 

“You’re definitely cheekier than me that’s for sure,” Oliver retorted with his eyebrows raised and a smile growing on his face. 

Barry chuckled softly as he moved a step closer to the elevator doors, just as they opened revealing his floor. “Whatever,” he said dismissively. “Let’s go, we’re here.” 

Barry once again led the way as he walked down the hall to his apartment. He pulled out his key and unlocked the door with one hand, pushing it open when he had successfully managed to do so, and looked back at Oliver with a big smile. 

“Welcome to your home for the next two days, Mr. Queen,” he said with a welcoming hand leading to the inside, as a gesture for Oliver to enter first. 

Oliver did, and as he entered, he looked briefly around Barry’s apartment, admiring the setting and the big windows. He looked back at Barry who was putting his keys on a hook and Oliver’s bag on the table near the door. 

“Nice,” he said with a nod of approval. “Looks cozy. How do you afford this place, exactly? You’re literally just a CSI and a full-time unpaid superhero.” 

Barry chuckled as he made his way towards the kitchen. “You know my dad was a doctor, right?” He took out two bottles of water from his fridge and passed one across the counter to Oliver. “I don’t know, my parents had money and well... it all got passed to me. I never used it,” he shrugged. “And Eobard Thawne left me his fortune for whatever deranged reason he had. We mostly use that money on Star Labs equipment and machinery when we need it and the thousands of repairs we have to make like most of the time when shit goes down. But it was so much that even if I used some of it on this place, it didn’t make much of a dent in the actual account.” 

Oliver furrowed his brows. “Yeah, I never understood the logistics of that,” he said as he took a seat on a barstool. 

Barry stood at his place across the counter from Oliver, but his eyes unfocused on a random spot in the distance as he got consumed in the thought. “Me either,” he confessed, his eyes still unfocused in the distance. “He said it was because even with all the wealth and this gift of speed I've been given, I still won’t be happy after he killed my mother.” Then he looked back at Oliver, with a slight grimace on his face and a sudden vulnerability in his eyes. “Sorry, this is not how I wanted to start our weekend together.” 

Oliver frowned. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “C’mere,” he said softly, turning in his seat so he was facing the outside, and opening his arms wide; a clear invitation for Barry to approach him. Barry did, and Oliver wrapped his arms around his waist as Barry’s hands placed themselves gingerly on Oliver’s chest. “I want to know everything about you – the good and bad. Our lives are always going to be laced with bad memories and crazy circumstances, but it is what it is. Nothing we can do about it – not even running back in time and changing the past it seems,” he said with a teasing edge. 

Barry smiled at that. “I get it. I just hate talking about it, you know?” he said softly. “But...” he added, looking into Oliver’s deep blue eyes. “With you... talking about it right now didn’t feel as hard. It’s like something in me actually wanted you to know. Like it was – like it was _easy_ to talk to you about it. Even if I hate the memory. Something in me just wanted you to know.” 

Oliver held him just a little tighter. “I know what you mean,” he said in agreement, nodding his head once. “I get that urge too,” he said with surprise in his own voice. “Like I want to tell you everything. What happened on the island and what I’m thinking when I’m on mission and I’m worried about how things will go. Things I've never spoken aloud to anyone – not even Thea. I don’t know why. It just feels so much easier with you.” 

Barry smirked at him as he gently poked Oliver’s chest. “And who said you weren’t good with words, huh? No one will ever believe how well you articulate your thoughts if I tell them. Or how sweet you can be.” 

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Way to ruin a moment, Barr,” he grunted, but a small smile still played on his lips. 

Barry laughed. “Okay, I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m glad it’s easy with us. It makes me feel like … I don’t know – like – like maybe it’s easy to be with each other because we’re meant to be,” he said in a soft tone, a light blush creeping onto his face as he looked at his fingers that played with the buttons of Oliver’s collar. 

Oliver looked at the man he was holding in his arms and felt some sort of indescribable and incomparable warmth take over his insides that he had genuinely never felt before in his life and he basked in the feeling of it. Whatever higher power gave him the strength to confess his feelings for Barry Allen was getting his lifelong prayers of thanks. He wanted to say something meaningful in the moment, something to tell Barry how much he felt the same way and how grateful he was to be with him in that emotional way he had never felt with anyone else. 

Except the only words that came out of his mouth were, “You’re adorable.” 

“You’re pretty cute yourself,” Barry said instantly, the soft smile reaching deep into his hazel-green eyes. His arms moved from their spot on Oliver’s chest to around his shoulders. He leaned his face into Oliver’s, just as the older man raised his own chin to meet Barry’s mouth with his lips. 

They melted into each other as they kissed. It felt raw and real, incomparable and easy, like nothing they had ever experienced before. And as it deepened, it didn’t feel forced or like too much. It didn’t feel uncomfortable or too intense. It felt natural and electric and it made them crave more. 

“Should we –?” Oliver asked as they pulled apart for breath and Barry’s lips found their way to Oliver’s neck. 

“One step ahead of you,” Barry said in a raspy voice, and with a gust of wind and a blink of an eye, they were upstairs on Barry’s bed – Oliver on his back with Barry on top, their lips automatically connecting again. 

“Gotta love superspeed,” Oliver said appreciatively between kisses as Barry chuckled against his lips. 

Oliver flipped their positions with flawless precision. “That was graceful,” Barry said admiringly, eyebrows raised. 

“Haven’t you heard?” Oliver asked him as his face hovered over Barry’s. He sat upon Barry’s torso and whipped his shirt over his head. “I’m kind of a great martial artist.” 

Then his lips were on Barry’s again, and his hands – _god,_ to Barry his hands were everywhere it seemed, and Barry himself didn’t feel like he was touching Oliver _enough_ , and he let them roam all over the older man’s exposed torso. They ran across the scars on his back to the dips in his muscles. Touching Oliver was a different kind of glory at that moment, really. 

Oliver’s hands felt up Barry’s shirt, touching the smooth, pale skin that was unscarred like his own. He drew back from Barry’s lips as he pulled up Barry’s shirt slightly as if asking if he was okay with that – and Barry, who knew he would’ve let Oliver shoot him with an arrow through the chest if he wanted to right then and there, had no objections, and simply lifted his arms over his head as Oliver pulled the shirt off completely. 

“Are we doing this?” Oliver asked him for clarification, his face mere centimeters from Barry’s, eyes searching the younger man’s face for any signs of hesitation or reluctance. 

But Barry only rolled his eyes. “Asking unnecessary questions can ruin the moment, you know,” he said urgently as he reached up and joined his lips to Oliver’s again, kissing him long and slow. 

Oliver pulled back again – reluctantly, but persistently. His eyes bore into Barry’s, “I just want to be sure you want this,” he said in a soft whisper. 

Barry shifted the position of his hips slightly so that his groin rubbed against Oliver’s leg. “What do you think?” he asked him obviously. 

Oliver grunted as he felt the hardness of Barry’s length against his leg and pulled down the other man’s jeans, exposing his bare legs and boxers. Oliver kicked off his own jeans and boxers and felt his way up Barry’s thighs with his hands. They stopped their search up to the waistband of Barry’s boxers. He looked up at the speedster with an innocent expression, though Barry was quite aware his actions were anything but. Barry’s cock gave an impatient twitch as if begging to be released from its hold in the underwear. Oliver grinned wickedly as he pulled the boxers off slowly. 

“Oh my god, Ollie!” Barry whined as he moved his hips to indicate how much of this teasing he really couldn’t handle. 

“Gotta make it last, baby – Barry,” Oliver said, rushing the speedster’s name quickly as if to fix the casual and easy slip of the pet name. One of Barry’s eyebrows cocked up as he smirked, but said nothing of it. He just lifted his hips and Oliver just slipped the boxers off entirely. 

He moved back into his original position as he hovered over Barry and kissed him again, their cocks aligning with each other and finding a nice grinding rhythm. It wasn’t comfortable because it was almost painful, but soon enough, Oliver repositioned them slightly and began trailing a line of kisses down Barry’s neck. Barry’s hands held onto Oliver’s short hair and clasped themselves into whatever they could manage to hand on, getting somehow impossible harder. 

“Ol - Ollie, _please,”_ Barry moaned, practically ready to beg for Oliver entirely. 

“Tell me what you need,” Oliver said as he looked into Barry’s eyes. 

“You,” Barry answered easily. “You, _please,_ I want _you,”_ he said purposefully and meaningfully. 

“You’re sure?” Oliver asked, his eyes wide and his hands careful as one stroked Barry’s cheek and the other his side. 

“If you ask me one more time, I swear to god I might actually die,” he said, close to actually losing it, with his ruffled hair and puffy lips, and his cock so hard and wanting that he felt like it would really just kill him. 

“Sorry, I just want to be sure,” Oliver told him apologetically as he pressed another kiss to Barry’s mouth. 

“I know, thank you,” Barry responded. “But there’s too much talking here and not enough action.” 

“Right,” Oliver said tight-lipped as if trying not to smile at that. 

Barry pointed his hand to his nightstand. “There’s lube in the top drawer.” 

Oliver quirked an eyebrow at him but reached for it regardless. “Ambitious or just always prepared?” 

“Neither, shut up,” Barry said almost embarrassed. 

“Tell me if you want to stop at all,” Oliver informed him seriously for a brief moment. 

“I won’t, but okay,” Barry replied with a nod, serious himself. 

Oliver decided in that second that he wanted Barry to feel the maximum pleasure, even if it wouldn’t be easy for himself. He positioned himself between Barry’s legs and looked up at the man as he stroked teasingly along Barry’s cock, to which the other man responded with a slight twitch and soft moan. He applied a decent amount of lube to his other hand, and found his way to Barry’s entrance – and his mouth – his mouth was dangerously close to Barry’s cock and he poked his tongue out as he licked the precum on the tip of his member. 

“Jesus _Christ,”_ Barry exclaimed heavily as one hand found its way into Oliver’s hair again as the other squeezed the pillow beside him. “ _Ollie.”_

Oliver hadn’t given many blowjobs in his life. He had received _many_ , though. So he knew what felt good and what didn’t. He was going to make Barry feel good. 

He mouthed Barry’s cock as one of his fingers went in and out of Barry, forming a decent-sized opening so he could soon add two fingers – which he also did. 

“ _Fuck,”_ Barry moaned deeply. It took a lot of self-control in the speedster to not start vibrating or lose himself completely. Sex was really easy for him to lose control in, and with Oliver, he wanted every second of this to be perfect. But the way the archer’s mouth was bobbing and his fingers were spreading him open, he was really about to lose it. “Oliver, _please,_ I'm so close,” he pleaded. 

Oliver obliged this command by actually taking more of Barry in his mouth, almost reaching the younger man’s long member entirely to the end. Barry’s hips almost thrust violently into Oliver’s mouth at the action, but he managed to grip tighter onto the pillow instead to keep some self-restraint. Oliver was aware Barry was close to the edge and also trying to still be gentle with him. This only aided him further and made him add another finger to the loosening hole as he carefully opened him more. 

“I’m gonna – I'm –” he was at a loss of words, and Oliver could tell he was close, but he didn’t stop bobbing up and down Barry’s length and in and out Barry’s hole because if his suspicions were correct, there was _a lot_ more to come for them. 

And Barry’s hand suddenly gripped so tightly to Oliver’s hair, and while it should have been painful, it was actually a turn on for Oliver. Barry moaned Oliver’s name loudly as he came into Oliver’s mouth. The older man drank him in, looking like he was enjoying each second of it. 

But Oliver’s hand didn’t stop. His fingers continued to open Barry’s hole for him more and more but was careful that it wasn’t an overkill, avoiding the right spot each time. And just as he suspected, Barry was already recovering – close to fully recovered, actually. 

“God bless superspeed healing,” Oliver said with a fond shake of his head. 

Barry rolled his eyes as his cock started getting hard again – his own body betraying him, it seemed. “Whatever, just do it already.” 

“Patience is a virtue, you know,” Oliver said teasingly as he pulled his fingers out, satisfied with the outcome. 

“The guy who said that clearly hadn’t gotten hard within three minutes of an orgasm,” Barry said dully. “Or hard at all, probably.” 

Oliver grinned. “You have condoms in your magical nightstand too?” he asked cockily. 

“Either come fully prepared or not at all,” Barry told him with a smirk. 

Oliver laughed, light and full as he reached over Barry back into the nightstand. Barry thought the sound of his laugh alone was enough to make him fall off a cliff and dive into an unknown nothingness that consisted of only Oliver. Deeper and deeper he would let himself fall into Oliver’s everything. 

Oliver slipped on a condom and lubed himself up as he aligned himself with Barry’s entrance, just as Barry’s cock became fully hard once again. “You’ll tell me if it’s too much, right?” he asked just to be sure. 

“I will,” Barry promised. 

And slowly and steadily, Oliver entered. Barry was tight and slightly tense, but Oliver was going slowly and carefully, never letting it get to be too unbearable for Barry, because the second it seemed like it was, he would stop. 

“Keep going,” Barry encouraged. Their eyes met and Oliver knew he was asking for it – ready for it. So he did. 

He went in further and further, and when he was completely inside, he waited. “Tell me when to move,” he said softly, their chests flush, their hands finding each other and entwining. 

“Give it a second,” Barry whispered back, connecting their lips together instead as he got used to being full with Oliver. 

They kissed for a moment, their tongues dancing with each other, then Barry pulled back slowly. “You can move,” he told him. 

Oliver did. 

He moved slowly at first, until just the tip of his cock was in Barry, and then pushed back in again. “God, you’re perfect,” Oliver told him in a low, rough whisper, their lips almost connected, but not quite. 

They found a steady rhythm, and neither found that any aspect of it was uncomfortable or not enjoyable. On the contrary, it was a kind of satisfaction and deep pleasure that neither had quite achieved before. It felt like something greater than just sex – it felt like connection and electricity like their bodies had been reawakened. 

When they both reached closer to climax, whines and moans rocketed off the four walls in that bedroom, each sound that was elicited from the other doing something more for the other man and bringing them closer and closer to what they both knew was bound to be an intense orgasm. 

“Barry - _god –_ FUCK – _Barry,”_ Oliver let out between pants and thrusts. 

“Ollie, _yes please –_ _ngh_ _,”_ was what Barry could manage, trying desperately to not vibrate his hips and keep his orgasm timely so he could come with Oliver. 

“I’m so close, Barr,” Oliver said, in an almost-Green Arrow kind of guttural tone. 

“Me too,” Barry panted himself, one hand fisting the sheets while the other dug its nails into Oliver’s back. 

“Come for me, Barr,” Oliver let out. 

And Barry did, with Oliver’s name at his lips, feeling some kind of blinding edge to the orgasm, but finding it was possibly the best one of his life. Oliver came soon after, finishing in the condom as he used his arms to hold himself upright so as to not collapse on Barry after riding out his orgasm in the younger man – and if his arms and legs felt unsteadier than they had ever felt before, well, no one would know it was sex with Barry that made him fall so weak. 

“Wow,” was all Barry managed as Oliver collapsed beside him after gently pulling out a few seconds later. 

“I know,” Oliver agreed. He couldn’t move. It was one of the most intense sexual encounters he had had in a very long time. It was wonderful. “That was quite a welcome to Central City. I should do this more often,” he said, breathing heavily. Barry laughed at that softly. Oliver’s knees felt weak again at the sound. 

Barry got up from the bed before Oliver could even notice he was gone and flashed to his bathroom, returning back in less than a second with a wet hand towel. He wiped Oliver clean and then wiped himself, tossing the cloth somewhere behind him and then joined Oliver on the bed. 

“You just came twice in a row,” Oliver said in disbelief, turning his head to look at Barry, who in turn moved to his side so he could look at Oliver. “How are you walking around let alone _flashing_ around?” 

Barry just laughed softly. “God bless superspeed healing right?” he said with a cheeky grin. 

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Unfair,” he decided. 

“It’s okay,” Barry told him, reaching his hand out and stroking Oliver’s chest. “You’re allowed to be jealous.” 

Oliver huffed. “I’m not jealous, it’s just unfair,” he claimed. 

Barry laughed again. “Yeah, I’m sure.” 

Oliver placed his hand over the one Barry had on his chest, then turned slightly so he could look at him a little better. “You’re okay with what happened, right?” he asked him seriously in a soft tone. 

Barry cocked an eyebrow, his grin still on his face. “I’m more than okay with what happened,” he told him. “It was unexpected, sure. But then again, our whole relationship has pretty much been based on spontaneity and things happening in their own way. This is just part of it.” He looked shy and small when he added, “I mean, maybe I did plan on making you a nice dinner first, or lighting up some candles … but I'm not unhappy with the way this happened. It was amazing, and it was you, and I’m glad we waited as long as we did because it was … _amazing._ I don’t regret it one bit. What about you?” 

Oliver traced the lines of Barry’s fingers with his hand that he held Barry’s with as he absorbed Barry’s words. “I agree,” he said with a small smile. “Dinner would’ve been nice, but I’m happy to be with you in any way for as long as you’ll have me.” 

Barry looked into Oliver’s eyes and felt himself breaking through any and all barriers he had ever felt in the other man. He felt like Oliver was letting Barry see all of him. He’d never felt so welcome than he had at that moment. 

“I -” he tried, but no words came because his mind was just full of thoughts of how he adored the man beside him. “Good,” he said decidedly. “That’s a long time because if I’m being honest, I don’t think I’ll ever not want you with me.” 

“Me either,” Oliver said softly, his blue eyes honest and open, the weight of the world not wearing down his shoulders, and the – the _love_ he was feeling for this other man growing greater and stronger than anything else in the world. But he wouldn’t say it. Not yet. But maybe soon. 

The moment was broken from the shrill sound of Barry’s phone ringing through its place in his discarded jeans on the floor of his bedroom. Barry almost grunted in annoyance for whoever was calling or whatever was happening and looked at Oliver apologetically before flashing to the location of his phone. 

He pulled it out of the jeans and looked at the screen. It was Joe. He almost pissed himself. “Fuck,” he let out in a whisper, chewing on the inside of his lips as he thought about what to say to his foster dad. 

“Who is it?” Oliver asked, raising himself up on his elbows to look at Barry. 

Barry whipped back, the phone in his hand still loudly ringing. Joe was nothing if not persistent. “Just Joe,” he told the other man. He flashed on his boxers as he walked to the door. “I’ll be right back.” 

Oliver just looked at his retreating form in confusion but decided to think nothing of it since Barry was known to be quite erratic at times. 

“Hey Joe,” Barry said into the phone as he walked out into the hallway. “What’s up?” 

“Barr,” Joe said in his authoritative dad voice. “So, you wanna tell me what you’re actually up to since Cisco’s at the precinct for some metahuman analysis crap and telling me there was nothing happening at Star Labs that you had to leave early at work for?” 

Barry inwardly cringed. He scratched the back of his head as he tried to think of what to say. “To be fair I never outright said I had something happening at Star Labs, you know,” he said lamely. 

“Right,” Joe said, clearly suspicious. “Look, you’re a grown man, I get it, you can do whatever you want. I just get worried, kid, you know that.” 

“I know, Joe,” Barry said into the phone, already feeling bad for how much he hadn’t told him. “I know, and I’m fine. I’m actually at home right now.” 

“Oh,” was all Joe said. “And you’re sure you’re alright?” 

“Yeah, I promise,” Barry said reassuringly. “I just had something to do, but it wasn’t anything you need to worry about.” 

“With all this crazy shit happening all over the city all the time, you know all I do is worry,” Joe said with a sigh. “But okay. I trust you. And I’ll see you at dinner tonight, right?” 

Barry hesitated. He knew Joe wouldn’t take no for an answer, but he tried regardless. “Actually, I might have a thing -” Barry tried. 

“No buts, kid,” Joe told him immediately. “See you at 8.” 

Barry thought for a moment. “Could I … bring someone with me?” 

“What, like a date?” Joe asked curiously. 

“No - no just... just a friend,” Barry said almost dismissively, already knowing he had just bought himself more trouble with that one word alone. “You know him, actually.” 

“Sure thing,” Joe said in agreement. “Always got plenty to share.” 

“Great,” Barry said, a grimace on his face, his free hand still holding the back of his head as if to stabilize him. 

“See you at eight,” Joe said. 

“Yup, eight,” Barry agreed reluctantly before shutting the phone. He sighed to himself as he stood in the hallway before looking back to his bedroom where his boyfriend was waiting for him, knowing he had seriously fucked up in some way or form. He began his retreat back to his room. 

“All good?” Oliver asked, already having re-worn his boxers as he sat up against the headboard on Barry’s bed, his own phone in his hand. 

“Uh, yeah, about that,” Barry began, joining Oliver on the bed and sitting beside him. “Joe’s kind of making me come to family dinner tonight. It’s kind of his weekly tradition. Not even Zoom was allowed to interrupt Friday night dinners,” Barry said in a weak attempt at a joke. 

“Oh, okay,” Oliver said in a soft tone. 

“So … would you want to come with me?” 

Oliver smiled at him, soft and sweet, and Barry wanted to slap himself for not telling Oliver that Joe didn’t know two things: one, that he was bringing _Oliver,_ and two, that he was bringing Oliver as his _boyfriend._ What was wrong with him? He wished he knew. 

“Of course, I would, I’d love to,” Oliver said with that sweet smile. 

“Great,” Barry said with a small smile that he managed of his own. “Now, I don’t know about you, but right now, I’m starving. Let’s eat some lunch.” 

He just hoped that whatever was in store for him tonight wouldn’t hurt Oliver’s or Joe’s feelings too badly. 

*** 

At ten past eight, Barry and Oliver stood outside the West house. They could already hear the chatter of Barry’s family coming from the other side of the door. He suddenly wished he had texted Iris or Cisco or Caitlin – _anyone –_ in advance to let them know who he was bringing with them and to mentally prepare for it. But no, Barry Allen didn’t think ahead. Something Thawne had told him, and Zoom, and it would probably also be something that black costumed speedster who they still hadn’t caught would tell him, too. 

However, Barry just shook his head free of those thoughts and looked at the man beside him. “You ready?” he asked Oliver. 

“Yup,” Oliver said simply. 

Barry nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay,” he said and opened the door. 

Six pairs of eyes looked to the door to see Barry walk inside with Oliver right behind him. “Hey... guys,” he said with an awkward wave of his hand. “And … HR?” he asked confused, looking at the man who hadn’t quite usually made an appearance at their family dinners. He looked at Cisco with his eyebrows raised in question. 

“Don’t ask,” Cisco said with a shake of his head and an eyeroll. “You brought a friend,” he then added, a sly smile taking over his face. 

“Right, yeah,” Barry said turning to look at Oliver. “You all know Ollie,” he said, then awkwardly cleared his throat. 

“Oliver’s fine,” Oliver said, his expression straight and a small tight-lipped smile on his face. 

Everyone was silent for a moment before Caitlin and Iris stepped forward with kind smiles on their faces. “Of course,” Iris said, reaching toward Oliver and giving him a small hug in greeting. “Hi Oliver, good to see you.” She moved to hug Barry, too, and her eyebrows raised as a sneaky smile made its way on her face, visible to only him. 

“Don’t say a word,” Barry whispered threateningly into her ear as he hugged her back. 

Iris made a ‘lips are sealed’ gesture as she pulled back, so quick and sly that he knew no one else caught it. 

Caitlin moved to hug Oliver, too. “Nice to see you again, Oliver,” she said with a smile. 

“You too, Dr. Snow,” Oliver said politely, returning the hug, a genuine smile on his own face. 

“You’re friends with Oliver Queen?” Wally suddenly piped up, his eyes wide in surprise. “I thought you guys just saved the world occasionally and stuff.” 

Barry almost laughed but didn’t. He just smiled as he looked from Wally to Oliver. “Yeah, he’s obsessed with me, actually,” he said cheekily. “Big fan of the Flash.” 

Oliver rolled his eyes at Barry and stepped forward to Wally. “I don’t think we’ve met before,” he said to the youngest member of the family. He held out his hand for Wally to shake. “I’m Oliver.” 

“Wally,” the young speedster said with a flustered grin. “You’re so cool,” he blurted out, then immediately flushed. 

“Thank you,” Oliver said with a short chuckle. “I wish my own team thought so, too.” 

Barry’s eyes darted around the room as everyone got over the surprise and went back to their conversations, Iris striking a conversation with Oliver and Wally. His eyes found Joe’s, who stood almost completely hidden by the kitchen door, his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide and unbelieving. 

Barry gulped and walked over to him. 

“When you said you were bringing a friend, I did not expect that to be Oliver Queen,” was the first thing Joe said in a whisper as soon as Barry approached him. 

Barry nodded sheepishly, digging his hands into his pocket. “Yeah, I should’ve probably given you a mental preparation warning,” he admitted to his foster father. “Sorry.” 

“You know how I feel about him,” Joe said in a statement, not as a question. 

“I do,” Barry said. “He’s just here for dinner as a friend. And he’s in town for business. Not on vigilante business,” he quickly added. “Like, not as the Green Arrow. He’s got some Queen Consolidated stuff. And he’s just here for dinner, as a friend.” 

“Fine,” Joe said shortly. 

Oliver noticed the pair talking at the side and excused himself from his conversation with Iris and Wally, which mostly turned into a back-and-forth spar between the siblings and moved closer to Barry and Joe. 

“Detective West,” Oliver said in greeting, holding out his hand good-naturedly. “Thank you for having me at your family dinner. I hope it’s not an intrusion.” 

Joe eyed his hand wearily before deciding to shake it after all. “If HR’s crashing then I guess anyone can,” Joe said in high sarcasm, his expression straight and serious. He pulled his hand back. “I’m going to check on dinner.” And he turned back and left for the kitchen. 

Oliver just gave another tight-lipped smile as he looked at Barry. “So, you weren’t kidding when you said he really doesn’t like me,” he said in a low voice. 

“I almost wish I were,” was all Barry said as he just looked at the place where Joe’s retreating form had disappeared to. 

Just before dinner was about to be served, Iris managed to corner Barry on his own as Cisco started talking to Oliver about the improvements he could make to Oliver’s suit in an excited voice. 

“Just when were you planning on telling me that Oliver’s in town? And you were bringing him to _dinner?”_ Iris asked in an excited but hushed voice. “Is this like an official thing? Are you introducing him to the fam or what?” 

Barry just darted his eyes around to make sure Oliver really was preoccupied before he responded in a low whisper. “Iris, I fucked up,” he told her frantically. 

Iris looked at him in confusion. “What are you talking about?” she asked him, her eyes looking worried, but her expression intrigued. 

“I didn’t tell Joe that Oliver’s here as my boyfriend, and I didn’t tell Oliver that Joe doesn’t know we’re dating,” Barry confessed in one swift breath. 

Iris’s mouth fell comically wide. “Barry...” she said in a shocked whisper. “That’s maybe the dumbest thing you’ve done since the time you tried to sneak into the house after getting wasted at your first college party.” 

“You said you would never bring that up again,” Barry said warningly. “And I know! But what do I do?” 

Iris just shook her head in disbelief as she looked at her best friend. “You’ve gotta tell one of them the truth. I think it should be Oliver because if he casually lets it slip you guys are dating, Dad’s probably going to faint.” 

Barry shook his head urgently. “I can’t!” he said, eyes still frantic. “If I tell Oliver that no one besides you knows that we’re dating he’s going to be so hurt because he _does_ think he’s here to meet my family – or at least I'm pretty sure he does because he was so cute and nervous about coming here and even if I do tell him and not Joe, Joe’s going to be so hurt if he finds out I’ve kept this a secret from him for so long! Either way, I fuck up and hurt one of them.” 

Iris just listened to Barry’s panicked rant as she tried to follow. She did, and she understood where he was coming from. “Okay,” she said slowly. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. If any kind of conversation comes up between Dad and Oliver, we have to swerve it completely. I suggest you let me do the swerving because you’re awful under pressure in a conversation and not a very good liar, either,” she told him calmly but quickly. 

“Yes, and any conversations of dating or relationships is just pushed off the table,” Barry added. Then he paused, nervous. “Can we do this?” 

Iris nodded slowly and unsurely. “For your sake, I hope so,” she confessed. 

“Dinner’s ready,” Joe announced somewhere behind them. “Iris, Barr, can you help me carry all the dishes to the table?” 

“Of course, Dad, coming,” Iris said in her normal voice. She gave a small, reassuring smile to Barry as she walked towards the kitchen. 

“I can help, too,” Caitlin added, getting up from her seat beside Cisco and across Oliver. “Anything to get out of Cisco’s psycho-analysis of how Damien Dhark got his magical abilities.” 

Oliver almost looked like he wanted to ask her not to leave, and Barry chuckled as he approached them. “Cisco, if you’re back on your theory that Damien Dhark was inspired by World of Warcraft which led him to divulge in magic, I have to break it to you, I don’t think that’s what it was,” Barry said jokingly as he stood directly behind Oliver. 

“Thank you,” Oliver said, getting up. “I mean, it’s a great theory. But … no.” 

Barry laughed as Cisco looked disappointed. “Non-believers, that’s what you are,” he said as he too got up, and went to the dinner table. 

“Come on,” Barry said to Oliver, placing a hand on the small of Oliver’s back for a brief second before he remembered where he was and immediately removed it. Oliver looked at him suspiciously but didn’t say anything. 

“Where does everyone sit?” Oliver asked about the seat arrangement of the dinner table. 

“Anywhere you want,” Caitlin told him, taking a seat beside Wally. “But also, if you sit on Cisco’s seat, he’s going to throw a fit,” she added, pointing to the third seat from the head of the table. 

“Here, you can sit next to me,” Barry told him, sitting directly across Caitlin as he pulled out the chair beside him – the one across Wally. 

“Thank you,” Oliver said with a smile, taking his seat. Caitlin didn’t say anything, but she watched the short interaction between the two men with her eyebrows raised. Something about it was gentler than Barry otherwise was generally like. It was interesting. 

When everyone was seated, they began to tuck in. “Don’t be shy, Oliver,” Iris told him as she put spoonsful of mac and cheese onto her plate. “If you don’t take food fast enough, between these two speedsters here, we could be out of food before anyone else even realizes it,” she said pointing between Barry and Wally. 

“Hey!” Barry said in protest, his mouth full of a dinner roll. 

“That is so not true,” Wally said at the same time, although his plate was also as full as Barry’s. 

“Don’t worry,” Oliver assured with a chuckle. “I’m quite aware of Barry’s great appetite.” 

Cisco, Caitlin, Wally, and Joe all looked at him suspiciously at that comment, and HR just looked amused. Iris, however, was quick to recover. 

“Yup, pretty much everyone is anyways, so you better eat enough before they reach for seconds,” she said smoothly. 

Barry let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding and met her eyes quickly before darting them away. 

After that, Iris quickly struck up a conversation about how she was working on a story about a child who went missing at a hotel opening. “It’s so weird, it’s like she vanished from the hotel itself,” Iris told them in her rapid investigator’s tone. “They shut down the hotel and no one was allowed to enter or leave. Each room was searched and nothing.” 

“But couldn’t she have left with whoever took her – or even on her own – before they did the search?” Caitlin asked, interested in the story. 

“When we got the call about the child, CCPD searched around the block and asked any eyewitnesses on the scene. There were no reports or any signs of her,” Joe answered to Caitlin. 

“There was also no meta-activity on the scene,” Cisco added. “I checked the whole perimeter, and parts of the hotel, too.” 

“Is that what you were doing at CCPD, today?” Barry asked him. 

“Yeah, giving my report's result,” Cisco told him. Then he looked at him suspiciously before saying, “And why weren’t you at work when I got there, huh? Slacking off there, mister CSI?” 

“He was actually picking me up at the airport,” Oliver interjected. “I told him not to take off work but he insisted,” he said, looking at Barry with an exasperated smile, he placed a hand on Barry’s knee under the table. 

Barry almost jumped off his chair when he felt Oliver’s hand. “Ha, yeah,” he said awkwardly. “Just wanted to make sure he could navigate Central City.” He felt Oliver’s hand slip off his knee as everyone besides Iris eyed the two weirdly. 

“Why would Barry need to pick you up from the airport?” Joe asked Oliver, his eyes squinted in that inquisitive way when he was connecting dots and searching for signs off a suspect. 

Barry shrugged. “Niceness, I guess,” he said, and Iris almost reached across the table and slapped him. 

“Is he not allowed to do that?” Oliver asked, feeling slightly heated from the direction of this conversation, though confused, too. 

“He’s allowed to do whatever he wants, he’s an adult,” Joe stated. “What I want to know is why he’d go out of his way to pick _you_ up if all you’re in town for is business?” 

Oliver looked at Joe confused for a moment as he tried to understand. “I’m sorry,” he said shaking his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. “Is that what you think?” 

“Okay, who’s up for dessert?” Iris tried to intervene, to diffuse the tension. However, everyone else on the table was too interested in the conversation between Oliver and Joe, their eyes darting back and forth between the two as they, themselves, tried to figure out what was happening. 

“I could … have dessert,” Barry piped up in a small voice, but then Joe and Oliver both gave him a look and he just shut up. 

“That’s what Barry told me,” Joe informed Oliver. “That you’re here on business. Not as the Green Arrow.” 

“I’m _not_ here on business as the Green Arrow,” Oliver agreed. 

“This guy’s the Green Arrow?” HR interjected in a surprised tone. 

“You literally knew that. You met him at the Star Labs external facility when the Dominators attacked,” Cisco told him in an annoyed voice. 

“Right,” HR said. “Forgot.” 

“So, either way, I’m still curious about why Barry’s going out of his way to pick you up,” Joe said, his voice serious. 

“It’s not really out of my way, I mean I got there in like six seconds,” Barry piped up in a small voice. 

“Why shouldn’t he?” Oliver asked Joe. 

Joe shrugged. “Seems like an effort on his part, if you ask me,” he said. “And then he invites you to dinner, and I have to say, for someone just here on business, I'm kind of confused.” 

Oliver just looked at Joe. “I’m not _just_ here on business,” he stated. And Barry felt himself shrinking in his seat, knowing what was coming, but also knowing he couldn’t stop it. “I’m here to meet Barry, too.” 

Joe raised his eyebrows. “Long way to come.” 

Oliver shrugged. “Well, he runs a long way to meet me, too. So, I thought I'd return the favor.” 

“And why is Barry running to meet you?” Joe asked, his eyes still squinted and darting briefly to meet Barry’s, whose face was half-hidden behind his hand as he sunk even lower in his seat. 

Oliver, however, didn’t see Barry’s demeanor, as his focus was concentrated solely upon Joe. “Why shouldn’t he? We’re dating?” he said in an obvious tone. 

The result of this dialogue was tremendous upon the rest of the dinner table. Several jaws dropped and Caitlin whispered a small, “ _I knew it!”_ While HR just looked around, confused and said, “Was that not already known?” as if he knew all the secrets. Iris put her forehead in her hand that rested on the table as she looked ashamed at herself for not being able to help, but she should’ve known better. This would never have ended well. 

“Dating?” Joe repeated in surprise. “You two?” he pointed between Barry and Oliver as if further clarification was required. 

Oliver’s head cocked to the side as he finally put two and two together. “Barry didn’t tell you,” he said. It wasn’t a question. “I’m sorry, you didn’t know I was coming here as Barry’s boyfriend?” That was. 

“No, kid,” Joe said letting out a deep sigh. He leaned back in his chair as he crossed his arms and looked at Barry, disappointed. “No, I didn’t.” 

Oliver nodded once; his face slightly flushed. He looked down as he gave another tight-lipped smile. “I think we were both misinformed, Detective,” he said. He took off the napkin from his lap and placed it over his empty plate. “Thank you for dinner –” he said as he pulled out his chair. He awkwardly cleared his throat, not meeting anyone’s eyes. “If you’ll excuse me.” And then he got up and walked towards the door. 

“Ollie, wait,” Barry said, sitting up in his chair properly again and getting up as well. “Ollie - Ol-” but Oliver had already reached the front door, yanked it open, and disappeared behind it. 

He looked back from the door to the dinner table where everyone was quiet and awkward, not saying a word. Caitlin and Cisco looked at him sympathetically as Iris just wearily eyed Joe, who wouldn’t meet Barry’s eyes. 

“I have to go after him,” was all Barry said, looking at Joe who wasn’t looking at him. “I’m sorry.” 

Barry ran outside at his human speed. Oliver hadn’t gone far, but he had walked a considerable distance to halfway down the neighbor's house. “Ollie,” Barry called, running after him. Oliver didn’t stop. “Oliver, please, wait,” he tried. 

Oliver stopped, his back to Barry. When Barry got to him, he felt ashamed of himself because Oliver looked so _hurt_ and it was _his_ fault. Oliver crossed his arms as he looked at Barry, waiting for an explanation. 

“I’m sorry,” Barry said. 

Oliver shook his head and chuckled darkly as he looked down. “I can’t believe that just happened,” he said. “That was so humiliating, Barry.” 

“I know,” Barry said apologetically, his face worried and guilty. “I’m sorry, I’m so – I'm so sorry, Ollie.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me that no one knew?” Oliver asked him, looking right into Barry’s eyes, demanding an answer. It was intimidating to see him so hurt and so serious at the same time. 

“I don’t - I don’t know,” Barry let out. “I’m sorry, I wish I had a better answer for you but I don’t.” 

Oliver just shook his head. “Well,” he said grimly. “When you figure it out, let me know.” He moved to walk past Barry. 

In his own panic, Barry blurted, “I was scared!” 

Oliver stopped walking again and turned around. “What?” he asked in a low voice. 

“I was scared!” Barry confessed. “I didn’t want anyone to know because I was scared okay?” 

Oliver just looked at him with furrowed brows. “What were you scared of? _Me?”_

Barry shook his head and took a step closer to Oliver. “No … no, of course not,” he took another step closer and ran a hand through his hair. “I was scared that it would mean we were completely official.” 

Oliver’s head shook slightly in confusion. “I thought you wanted that, Barry?” he said in a baffled tone. “I thought you were happy with the way things were going?” 

“I am! I really am, I swear,” he promised. He held Oliver by his upper arms gently for a moment before dropping his hands. “I just – I've never … god!” he tried to find the words but he couldn’t. “I’ve always been scared of things like this,” he said in a whisper, his head falling down, not able to look at Oliver as he said that. 

“Things like what?” Oliver prompted, albeit slightly harshly, because he really did still want an answer. 

“Like - like commitment,” Barry said, feeling ashamed. “I’ve always been scared. And I didn’t want to be scared with you, but the truth is, I’m still scared. I’m sorry. I should have told everyone. I mean – only Iris knew, but still, that’s not enough, I know, and I’m sorry.” Barry looked up at Oliver again and he tried to plead with his eyes, to let Oliver know just how much he didn’t mean to hurt him or humiliate him like that. 

Oliver said nothing. He just looked at the other man with a scowl on his face. After a moment he shook his head and looked away. “I think you need to have a talk with your family,” he said quietly, his eyes focused on the neighbor’s yard. “I’ll see you back at your place. Tell Joe I’m sorry.” 

Barry’s face went through six different emotions at once, all pertaining to guilt and shame. “Wait - Oliver,” he grabbed his arm. 

“Barry,” Oliver said quietly. “We’ll talk later. Go to your family.” And he pulled his arm out of Barry’s grip gently and started his retreating walk, reveling in the humiliation of the past twenty minutes on his own, needing the walk to see things a little clearer and form better thoughts. 

Barry just watched him go. Powerless. Unable to stop things or reverse time. Unable to move. He watched Oliver walk until Iris came out to the porch and called his name. He turned to face her. 

“Come on,” she said softly. He walked to her. She opened her arms and he melted into her embrace. It was a comfort like no other; a hug from his best friend who understood him better than anyone. “It’s gonna be okay,” she promised, even though she had no idea herself. 

“I have to talk to Joe,” Barry said, pulling back. He walked into the house to find Cisco, HR, and Caitlin putting on their coats as they prepared to leave. 

“Good luck, dude,” Cisco whispered to him as he passed, patting him on the arm. “Don’t say anything,” he said without turning to HR, who stood behind him and has his mouth open to speak. The man shut his mouth promptly at that. Caitlin just gave him a sympathetic smile and the trio left the house. 

Wally gave a nod to the kitchen as he noticed Barry looked around for Joe. “He’s in there,” he said softly. 

Barry walked into the kitchen and watched for a second as Joe put away the leftover food. “Hey, Joe,” he said in a small voice, feeling guilty and awful. 

Joe paused his actions and looked at him, his eyes narrowed. “I really gotta hand it to you, kid,” he started, looking away from him and resuming his task of emptying the food dishes. “You really made a mess of things.” 

“I know,” Barry said in quiet agreement. He leaned against the doorframe. “I’m sorry. I should have told you Oliver and I are seeing each other.” 

Joe just shook his head. “What I don’t understand, and I'd like you to clear that up for me,” he began. “Did you not tell me because you were thought I’d disapprove or did you just forget to include me in major things happening in your life? Like you falling in love?” 

Barry sputtered at the question. “I’m - what? I’m not – we haven’t even said the – I didn’t think you liked him,” was all he managed to get out. 

“I _don’t_ like him,” Joe agreed. “But I have to admit I should have known something was up from the way you’ve been acting lately and when you two got here … there was something in your eyes – something in the way you were moving. You may have been nervous but you were also light … happier …” he trailed off. “I don’t like the Green Arrow. I haven’t since I first heard about the vigilante of Star City. But it’s not the Arrow that’s making you smile like that – it's Oliver Queen.” 

“He’s … Joe, I swear, he’s amazing,” Barry said softly, practically gushing. “He treats me so well, and I know you won’t believe it but he’s maybe the sweetest person I’ve ever met.” He paused and took a step closer to Joe. “I should have told you about him. I know. But I was so scared. This is the first time in my life that a relationship has ever felt so serious or so _real_ and it freaked me out about what it meant. So … I didn’t tell you or anyone. I guess I didn’t realize I felt this way either until … well, until I saw Oliver leave tonight and ask me why I did this. Now I’m just scared to lose him.” 

Joe put the dish in his hands down and he put one hand on Barry’s shoulder. “Look Bare, you’re gonna be faced with all sorts of difficult moments in your life. You _have_ been faced with difficult moments in your life and they’ve all changed you in so many ways. You’ve become more protective of yourself – more cautious, more careful, and I’ve watched you fight through those difficult times. But … things like this … things like love … sometimes you need to stop being so protective, and stop being so cautious, because when we are, careful and protective and all that, we ruin it for ourselves and forget to enjoy it.” 

He paused, taking a deep breath. “Do I wish you were in love with anyone other than Oliver Queen? I won’t lie, yes, I do. But … I can’t tell you who you can love and I can’t force you to do things you don’t want to do. You make your own decisions. But I will tell you this; when we find that one person who just makes everything feel different and just … _better_ , we shouldn’t hide it away and keep it to ourselves. Sharing that love with the people in our lives is what makes it better and worth having.” 

Barry looked at his foster father as he talked, absorbing everything Joe was saying. He understood what he meant. It did make sense to him. “I know,” he said eventually. “And I really am sorry. You really have to stop saying ‘love’ so much, I haven't even said it to him yet,” he added lamely. 

Joe chuckled at that. “I know you’re sorry, son,” Joe said with a smile. “And you may not have said it to each other, but it’s in your eyes. I can see it right now.” 

Barry rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay, whatever,” he said abashedly. “Thanks, Joe.” 

Barry moved in for a hug and Joe patted him on the back. They pulled back after a moment. “I don’t think I’m the one you should be apologizing to, though,” Joe said and he looked at Barry meaningfully. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Barry said grumpily. “You’re always right, we get it.” 

Joe chuckled again, “Go on, kid. We’ll talk about this later. Go fix things.” 

And Barry did. He sped back to his apartment and stopped as soon as he reached the building. As soon as he got off the elevator, he walked down the hall to his apartment and came to a stop. Oliver was sitting outside his door, leaning against the wall. He looked up at Barry as he approached. 

“I got this far and realized I didn’t have the key,” he explained softly. 

“Come on,” Barry said in an equally soft voice, he offered his hand to Oliver, and after he looked at it for a moment, he put his hand in Barry’s and let the other man help him up. They both let go as soon as Oliver was on his feet. Barry swiftly unlocked his apartment and pushed the door open, stepping to the side and once again letting Oliver enter first. He did. 

Oliver walked in, slowly looking around like he was waiting for Barry to tell him what to do. Barry looked at the other man who had his back to him for a second before he walked towards him. He offered Oliver his hand again and Oliver looked from Barry’s hands to his eyes before decidedly putting his hand into his once more. Barry led him to the couch where they both took a seat, keeping a careful amount of space between them. 

“I’m sorry,” Barry began. “I know this doesn’t excuse anything that happened tonight because I’m aware that I severely fucked up. I know that being scared isn’t an excuse either,” he shook his head at himself, looking at his hands in his lap. “I wish I could undo that whole thing – make you feel less shitty about it all … but I can’t.” 

Oliver cleared his throat. “You - you said you were scared?” he asked, feeling awkward himself. “Maybe you could explain that a bit more?” 

Barry nodded. “I really didn’t realize it,” he stated. “Since you messaged me yesterday, there was something in my stomach that made me so nervous about you coming and I really didn’t understand what it was. I don’t think I realized it until I saw you leave and I panicked and it just blurted out of me. But when it did, it made sense. I really have been scared this whole time, about this whole thing.” 

Oliver just shook his head, not understanding. “Barry - why didn’t you just tell me that my coming here made you that nervous?” he asked him. 

Barry looked at him. “Can you honestly tell me that you wouldn’t have been more hurt at hearing about how my fear of commitment is the reason I don’t want you to come to my city?” he asked back plainly. 

Oliver frowned. “No,” he admitted. “But I do wish you told me you were nervous or that you hadn’t told anyone.” 

Barry nodded at that. “I get it,” he said quietly. “I should’ve been honest with you. I _should_ have told you. I’m sorry that I hurt you. I’m sorry I didn’t realize my fears sooner. I really just have nothing else to say besides telling you how sorry I am.” 

Oliver sighed at that. “Okay,” he said after a moment. “Maybe I should sleep on the couch tonight,” he added, looking straight ahead instead of at Barry. 

Barry looked visibly upset and felt it too. But he understood why Oliver didn’t want to sleep in the bed next to him. If it were him, he wouldn’t want to sleep beside him, either. “Ollie...” he said in a soft, almost broken tone. 

“Please respect that,” Oliver said, his voice wavering. 

Barry nodded. “Okay,” he agreed defeatedly. “I’ll get you a blanket and pillow.” 

He moved at his regular speed to get stuff for Oliver to have a comfortable enough sleep with. Then he returned to find Oliver on the phone, on his feet close to the window and pacing slightly, talking to maybe Diggle or Felicity, since it seemed to be Team Arrow stuff. 

“No, if you figure it out, just let me know,” Oliver said into his phone, watched as Barry made up his bed. “No, I’ll tell you later. I’m glad you guys are handling it OK. Update me soon. Bye.” 

When Oliver was done with his call, he moved a little closer to the couch, where Barry was obviously overcompensating by trying to make the couch look comfy enough for him. “Arrow stuff?” Barry asked with a nod to the phone Oliver held in his hand. 

“Yeah,” Oliver said. “Told them to manage without me. Kind of a test period.” 

Barry finished setting up Oliver’s bed and stood up straight. “Why?” he asked curiously. “Thinking of hanging up the hood?” 

Oliver just shrugged. “I don’t know, really,” he confessed. “Guess we’ll see how it goes.” 

Barry nodded. There was a pause. Some sort of tension hung between them that Barry mostly unfamiliar with when it came to Oliver. “Alright well, I made your bed as comfy as it can be. Although, you could even take my bed, if you prefer,” he said. 

“No, that’s okay,” Oliver said. “I’ll be okay here.” Another pause. “Thank you.” 

Barry gave him a half-smile. “Of course.” Another pause. “Good night, Oliver,” he said softly. “I’m sorry for a disappointing first night in Central together.” 

“Good night, Barry,” Oliver said quietly. There was nothing more that he could really say, so he didn’t. Barry nodded again, gave him another smile and retreated upstairs. 

It was about 12 AM when the bed beside Barry dipped. He wouldn’t have felt it if he was asleep, but he was still quite awake. “Ollie?” he asked in a muffled voice. 

“I decided I don’t like sleeping without you next to me,” Oliver said in a whisper. 

“Good,” Barry said, his voice just as low. He turned to face Oliver and wrapped an arm around him. “Me either.” 

Oliver kissed Barry’s forehead and wrapped an arm around him, too, both men falling asleep wrapped in each other easily after that. 

From the looks of things, they were going to be just fine. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed that. The next chapter will feature more of their weekend together. Take care.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry meets William for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everyone! Here's a cheesy chapter to start your year (even though I'm three days late, but whatever).

Barry opened his eyes slowly. The sun poured in from the windows on his right, and on his left was a strong and muscled arm wrapped around him, belonging to the most beautiful man he had ever seen in his life. Barry watched Oliver take slow and steady breaths as he slept with his mouth slightly ajar, looking peaceful and cozy. 

His beauty was always something that took Barry’s breath away. Just seeing Oliver, looking so effortlessly handsome and gorgeous, with his muscles that could have been handcrafted by God himself, never failed to make his knees feel weak – so basically every time Barry looked at him. But Barry knew better than that. He knew with each muscle in Oliver’s body – his arms, legs, stomach, back, all of it – came a painful memory. He remembered seeing Oliver Queen in tabloids and news channels when he was younger, far before he ever stepped onto the Queen’s Gambit. Though the boy in the media looked strong and had muscles too, he was nowhere near as buff and ripped as the Oliver he was now. And right now, watching him sleep peacefully next to him, his face nuzzled into Barry’s shoulder, he wondered how the universe aligned their fates so perfectly that he got to see Oliver like this – like he was _Barry’s._

It still freaked him out to think about it, even after the previous night's events. But only because he had never felt serious about anyone else he had ever dated. It had felt like something different entirely, being with Oliver. It had felt like he had been waiting for him his whole life. It had never felt more like he was destined to be with someone than he had with Oliver. And that terrified him. He wanted to feel pure elation at knowing that this really could be it. That he could be _the one –_ as cheesy as it sounded. He knew in his bones that that was really what it was. But there wasn’t _just_ pure elation. There was fear and worry and anxiety, too. And that was probably also why he was so scared, because if this was it – if this man was the one – a million things could come in the way and ruin that for them, and break them apart. It would mean working a million times harder to make it last and to keep it strong, and never let anything get in the way of that. Barry didn’t even need to think twice before knowing that he would do whatever it took to make this work, starting with making up to Oliver for what happened last night. 

He’d been pining over him for too long – wishing and secretly hoping that something more would spark between them, and some greater force in the universe heard his secret pleas. Which meant he owed it to that force, and to Oliver especially, to prove how willing and committed he was in making it work. He couldn’t for a second let Oliver have any cloud of doubt that Barry didn’t want this, or that he wasn’t willing to put in his one hundred percent into it. 

So, he tried to find a way to ease out of Oliver’s sleepy embrace and get out of bed. That was easier said than done, however. Oliver was a light sleeper – everyone knew this. He was used to always needing to be alert and on the ready. Any movement Barry made would easily jolt him out of his slumber, so he had to do it fast and without moving too much. That would either mean phasing out of the bed and speeding up or doing the quick pillow swap trick. Either way, it had to be done fast. Luckily, fast was Barry’s forte. Barry carefully analyzed Oliver’s position in the bed and his own. Oliver was lying on his stomach, one arm tossed lazily over Barry, and his face half on the pillow under him, and leaning on Barry’s shoulder. The covers were mostly exposing his bare back, revealing his back tattoos and scars, and stopped right at the edge of the waistband of his sweatpants. It seemed that phasing out of the bed would be the only way to go about this, so that’s what he did. It was a smooth transition, and in his speedy movements, he even managed to replace his body with a big pillow. When he was successfully out of the bed and able to easily walk around, Barry admired the sight of Oliver asleep in his bed – something he hoped he would see more of – and hoped he felt as comfortable as he looked. 

He made his way downstairs to the kitchen, where he then used his speed to work on making a great breakfast for Oliver to wake up to. Feeling the need to listen to music while he worked, he stopped using his speed and decided to move at his regular pace, which wasn’t so bad since he was mostly done with making breakfast anyway. He put on a classic Frank Sinatra song on his phone, but at a low volume and continued cooking up waffles, bacon, coffee, and eggs with toast. As he checked on the coffee and toast, he heard movement behind him, which he otherwise wouldn’t have because Oliver generally moved very quietly, but there was a creaky step on his staircase that not everyone knew about. 

He turned around, and as suspected, Oliver was walking towards the kitchen, looking slightly sleepy but otherwise awake. 

“No,” Barry said in an almost whine-like tone, dragging out the o’s in the word. 

“No?” Oliver asked, confused, standing behind the counter. 

Barry came closer to the other side of the counter, holding two steaming coffee cups. “You were supposed to stay in bed!” he said, passing Oliver a cup over the counter. “I was going to bring you breakfast.” 

Oliver looked slightly baffled, but his expression then became amused. “You were going to bring me breakfast in bed?” he asked, a small smile playing on his lips. 

“Yes,” Barry said, getting slightly stressed. “As an apology for everything that happened last night. I wanted to make it up to you by pampering you a little bit.” 

“Well, I can assure you, with all this food, you’re definitely still pampering me,” Oliver said after taking a small sip of his coffee and looking at the spread all over the counter. 

“I just wanted to do something nice for you,” Barry said in a small voice. 

Oliver looked at him as he took sips of his coffee. The breakfast was more than he could have asked for, and he knew they still had a lot to overcome, but he wasn’t about to let Barry feel bummed out for the rest of his time in Central. “You’ve already done more than enough. I forgave you the second you apologized, but it was just a lot to take in,” Oliver admitted to him. “I don’t want you to think you have to keep trying to please me or make me less upset. I'm not upset. I just want to be with you, and I don’t want to hide it from the people we love.” 

Barry looked unsurely at him, still feeling swirls of guilt roam in his stomach. “I just feel bad,” he decided. 

“Okay, how about this,” Oliver proposed. “We eat this massive breakfast, and you take me to that coffee place you’re obsessed with – what is it?” 

“Jitters.” 

“Jitters, right, and then we can go meet William.” Oliver nonchalantly drank his coffee, like his proposal for their day’s plan wasn’t a big deal when in actuality, they both felt the weight of it. 

Barry was momentarily stunned, his mouth hung slightly open as he digested Oliver’s plan. “You... you want me to meet William?” he asked softly. 

“Yes, I do,” Oliver said with a smile, covering one of Barry’s hands with his own over the counter. “I spoke to Samantha about it, and she thinks it’s okay.” 

Barry was touched. He knew how much William meant to Oliver, and how much he valued his relationship with his son. He also knew that he was very careful of what he did and said around William because he didn’t want anything to push him away. For Oliver to want Barry to meet his son was a big deal, and he was beyond thrilled at the prospect of being more involved in his boyfriend’s life. 

“I would love to,” he eventually got out, feeling beyond honored. “Are you sure? I mean, I know it’s a big deal like -” 

“Barr, I’m sure,” Oliver said. “I want him to know you.” 

Barry leaned in over the counter and placed a small kiss on Oliver’s lips. “Thank you,” he whispered after he pulled away. “Thank you for forgiving me, and just – god, just for being you, really.” 

“Thank you for being worth my forgiveness,” Oliver replied easily. “And thank you for breakfast, but I think it’s getting cold, and I don’t want your efforts to go to waste.” 

“Right,” Barry said with a short laugh. “Right, let’s eat.” 

They moved the food to the dining table and sat close to each other, Barry at the head of the table, and Oliver to his right. They ate in companionable silence, the only sounds being the scraping of cutlery on plates and Oliver’s delightful moans of appreciation every time he took a sip of coffee or a bite of a waffle. 

“I hate how I handled things yesterday, and it wasn’t fair for me to have put you in that situation,” Barry blurted out, in between bites of his own plateful of breakfast. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t right - I should’ve - I could have handled it better, and I perpetually suck and god I'm just - I'm sorry.” He looked embarrassed at his own outburst and chose to shut up by covering his mouth with his hand and resting his elbow on the table as he timidly looked at Oliver for his reaction. 

The other man in question was taken by surprise and slowly chewed the food in his mouth before swallowing just as carefully. He looked at Barry cautiously, slightly worried about where the younger man had this constant capacity to reiterate his guilt, even when it was seemingly handled. 

“Barr,” Oliver started, clearing his throat slightly. He turned to face him a little better in his chair. “I _promise_ you, I’m okay,” he said fiercely, but softly. “I agree, things could have been handled better, but something I've learnt over the years is that when something’s already happened, no matter if it’s good or bad or whatever … the most you can do is move forward. I know that for you, you have abilities that help you redo moments in your life, but I don’t want to redo moments … I want the ones we have and the ones we will have. Barr, I want to keep moving forward with you.” 

Barry just looked at him wistfully. “How do you always do that?” he asked him in a small voice. “How do you always make me feel better even when I’m the one being the asshole?” 

Oliver just smiled at him. “Because you could never be an asshole,” he said, his smile stretching into something more loving and cheesier. “I don’t even try to make you feel better, most of the time. I really just try to make you see the reality of the situation, and how it’s not as bad as you may think.” 

“You’re just inherently perfect, then, I guess,” Barry sighed, turning back to his food. 

Oliver chuckled. “Far from it,” he murmured, more to himself than Barry but still watching him, his own eyes crinkling from the smile still imminent on his face. 

Barry just shrugged, having caught the small disagreement from his boyfriend. “To me you are, so I guess we agree to disagree on most things it seems.” 

“I …” Oliver started, but found himself at a loss of words. “You’re everything, Barry Allen. Are you aware of that?” 

Barry looked at him, a goofy grin breaking out on his face. It was like looking at a sunrise. “I need to write that one down, no one’s ever going to believe you can be so corny,” Barry said, pulling out his phone and actually opening his notes app to write down Oliver’s last words. 

Oliver’s smile turned to a one-lined, disapproving frown, one he normally wore for Barry when the speedster would joke around on days they would train together. He tried grabbing the phone from him, but Barry simply held it out of his reach. “You really know how to make me regret being cheesy sometimes,” Oliver said, still struggling to grab the phone from Barry. 

Barry just turned his head back and stuck out his tongue at him, his thumbs still moving across the phone screen as he wrote. 

Oliver, against his better judgment, let out a snort. “So mature.” 

“You love it.” 

“Can’t deny that,” Oliver said softly. And then he pulled Barry’s arm closer to him with more force, but without actually hurting the speedster. Barry didn’t resist this time, either. He just let himself fall into Oliver’s arms, as the older man held his face with one hand and pressed his lips to his own. 

And despite all the pressure of the day before, and the anxiety, and the fear Barry felt at knowing he was really, completely, fully in a committed relationship, he found himself thinking that he could get used to mornings like this. Mornings with Oliver. 

*** 

“I’ll have a Flash, please,” Barry said with a goofy smile to the barista across the counter, finding his own little joke to be highly amusing. Oliver just hung his head. 

“And I’ll have a Zoom, please, extra shot of espresso in that one,” Oliver added to their order. 

Barry looked back at him with a mock-hurt expression on his face. “That’s cold,” he said, acting offended. “Just for that, you can pay for the coffees.” He walked further up the line, looking at the display of pastries and freshly baked items the coffee shop had to offer. “In fact, since he’s paying, I’ll have four of those cinnamon rolls. And a cupcake.” 

Oliver just shook his head, his expression stoic as it normally was. “It’s like hanging out with a five-year-old,” he said more to himself than anyone else. 

“You would date a five-year-old? That’s gross, Oliver. I might have to end our relationship just for that,” Barry said, acting affronted. 

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Please ignore him,” Oliver said to the barista politely, handing over his credit card. 

The barista just looked between the two men with an amused look on her face. “Sure thing,” she said, charging the card and handing it back to Oliver. 

Barry moved to get their drinks from the other counter and watch as they packed his ordered pastries. “But can I just say,” the barista added quietly to Oliver as she handed him back his card. “You guys make a pretty cute couple.” 

Oliver smiled at her then. “I know,” he said back, casually dropping a ten-dollar bill in the tip jar and walking away. 

Barry was balancing the two coffees over the box of his cinnamon rolls, waiting for Oliver a little to the side of the counter. He took the coffee labeled ‘Zoom’ from Barry and the two walked together to an empty table. 

“You’re going to eat all those cinnamon rolls right now?” Oliver asked him as he settled in his chair and watched as Barry opened his box, looking ready to eat. 

“Oh, did you want to share?” Barry asked, looking up in question. 

“We just ate,” Oliver stated. 

“Hater,” Barry responded, his mouth already full of a large bite of his roll. 

“I’ve never been more attracted to you,” Oliver said sarcastically, shaking his head and taking a sip of his coffee. 

“Hey guys,” a voice said behind Oliver. It was Iris and Wally. 

“Oh, hi,” Barry said to them in surprise. Oliver just nodded with a straight-lipped smile. 

“Tell me you didn’t take the last of the cinnamon rolls man,” Wally said to Barry in a warning tone. “I literally came here just for those.” 

“I thought you came here to hang out with your sister?” Iris asked him, turning to him with an eyebrow raised. 

“Yeah, my sister who was going to pay for the cinnamon rolls,” Wally said obviously. 

Iris rolled her eyes, “I feel so loved.” 

“I think there were two left,” Barry said, swallowing his mouthful of a cinnamon roll. Wally didn’t say a word, he just walked as fast as he could in his human speed to the coffee line. 

“So,” Iris said after a moment. “How are you guys?” She looked between the two curiously. 

Barry knew she was searching for a deeper answer, perhaps to see if they were doing alright after the events of last night. Apparently, Oliver did too, because he responded to her first. “Well, my dumbass boyfriend and I learned an important lesson in communication, but other than that, we’re doing alright,” he said with a genuine smile, moving his hand to place over Barry’s free one. 

Barry smiled at him too, then looked back at Iris. “Yeah, I’m just glad he didn’t talk to me in his ‘Arrow’ voice,” he said with an almost-worried expression. “Wouldn’t have ended well ‘coz I’d probably have pissed myself. Not that I didn’t almost piss myself anyways.” 

“Always the charmer, Barr,” Oliver said with his lips pulled inwards as he pulled his hand back and shook his head yet again. 

Iris let out a short laugh. “Well, I’m glad to hear it,” she said with a smile. “I’m sorry your official introduction as Barry’s _boyfriend_ didn’t go smoothly, but I think dad is considering a do-over,” she said to Oliver with a small pat on his arm. “But between you and me,” she added, leaning in closer to Oliver. “I met him before your first date and he was already swooning.” 

Barry’s mouth opened in surprise. “Traitor,” he said pointing at Iris. “I was _not_ swooning,” he promised, looking at Oliver, his finger raising and wagging of its own accord. 

Iris just laughed, already taking a few steps back to join Wally in the line. “Oh yeah,” she said to Oliver. “Swooning big time. Like thirteen-year-old-goes-on-a-first-date-major-butterflies-in-his-stomach-can't-stop-gushing-about-his-crush swooning.” 

And then she stuck her tongue out at Barry before turning her back on them and walking away. Barry watched her go, shaking his head. “It’s your own family who stabs you in the back,” he said, still watching her. 

Oliver just laughed. “Good to know I had that effect on you,” he said, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at Barry. 

Barry looked back at him with his eyebrows raised. “Had? Hate to tell you this, buddy, but you still do, and probably will for the rest of my life,” he said. 

“Oh really?” 

“Can you blame me? With that jawline and those eyes alone I’m a goner.” 

Oliver snorted. “You’re a sap.” 

Barry took out the cupcake and placed it between him and Oliver. “You have to try their cupcakes, they’re the best,” he said, already breaking off a piece for himself. 

Oliver nodded and broke off a piece too. 

Barry nibbled on his piece of cupcake and thought for a moment. “You don’t have to meet Joe again if you aren’t ready, you know,” he said quietly, looking at Oliver. 

Oliver cleared his throat and looked at Barry. “Do you want me to?” 

Barry suddenly felt bashful. “I - I mean, yeah,” he sputtered. Oliver placed a hand over Barry’s, and the younger man relaxed considerably, taking a deep breath to pace himself. “I would like for you to meet him. Properly. The way it should have been done this whole time.” 

“Then I’ll meet him,” Oliver said simply, a half-smile on his face. 

Barry smiled back at him, feeling a crinkle in his eyes. 

Across the coffee job, Iris stood at the receiving counter, waiting for her coffee. She chanced a look back at her best friend and saw Barry and Oliver, locked in deep eye contact, a smile on both their faces, Oliver’s hand covering one of Barry’s. She didn’t believe in any particular God, but suddenly she found herself quietly hoping to whoever was up there that they let that smile stay on Barry’s face for the rest of his life. 

*** 

“God, I hope he likes me,” Barry whispered nervously, his fingers wringing each other as he and Oliver stood outside Samantha’s house to meet William. 

Oliver, already knowing his son’s affinity for The Flash, almost rolled his eyes at his boyfriend, but refrained. In truth, he actually appreciated how nervous Barry was. It proved how much Barry cared, even if he struggled to show it as proven from the previous night’s events. 

“You’ll be fine,” Oliver whispered back reassuringly. “He’ll like you, don’t worry.” 

Barry didn’t seem too reassured, though. He just nodded and put his hands in his pockets. “I hope you’re right.” 

Oliver smiled to himself at his boyfriend’s panic. It was adorable and quite endearing, even though he would probably never admit it out loud. It made him feel like he was making the right decision in introducing Barry to William. 

Just then, the front door of the house opened, revealing Samantha standing on the other side. “Hi, Oliver,” she said with a smile. She moved to give the older man a one-armed hug. “And you must be Barry,” she said as she moved back. 

Barry held out his hand to greet her, which she accepted. “Yeah, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you.” 

“You too,” she said. “Oliver’s mentioned you a lot in conversation over the past year.” 

Barry, upon hearing this, turned to Oliver with a mischievous grin. “Is that so?” he said, nudging Oliver with his shoulder. Oliver, in question, wouldn’t even meet Barry’s eyes but kept his expression as straight as possible. “He really is a lot cheesier than he wants people to believe you know,” he said, looking back at Samantha. 

“I wouldn’t have believed you if I hadn’t seen how he is with William,” Samantha admitted, moving to the side so Oliver and Barry could enter. “But I think you may be right.” 

“Are we done with this conversation?” Oliver asked, though his tone was light, indicating he wasn’t upset about it. 

“Sorry,” Barry said, though he sounded anything but. “We’re just revealing all your secrets here.” 

“Not all of them, I hope,” Oliver murmured under his breath, though he could tell Barry heard because the younger man just winked at him. “So, where’s the little man?” Oliver asked after clearing his throat, effectively ending the conversation of his apparent cheesiness. 

“He’s in his room, and he refuses to eat his lunch, so maybe you can convince him to,” Samantha said, leading the way into the kitchen and handing Oliver a plate with a grilled cheese sandwich on it. 

“I’m on it,” Oliver said, accepting the plate. 

“I’ve got some work to catch up on, so I’ll be in the study,” Samantha said, to the two other men. “You know where everything is,” she added to Oliver. “Make yourself at home, Barry,” she said with a smile as she left the kitchen. 

“Come on, let’s go see William,” Oliver said, pulling Barry slightly by the arm. Barry followed Oliver through a short hallway and came up to a door that was covered in stickers. Oliver knocked on the door a few times. 

“Who is it?” a small voice said on the other side of the door. 

“It’s Oliver, buddy,” Oliver responded. 

It only took a few seconds for the door to be opened after that and in a flurry of motion, Oliver’s lower half was being hugged by a young boy. Oliver smiled at his son, stroking his head with his free hand. 

“Hey buddy,” Oliver said, his voice light, happy. 

“I missed you,” William said, pulling away slightly, but keeping his arms still wrapped around Oliver. 

“I missed you too,” Oliver told him. “I brought someone here to meet you.” 

William pulled back completely and looked at Barry curiously. “This is my friend, Barry,” Oliver said, introducing him. “And Barry … this is my son, William,” he said slowly, but the smile never leaving his face. 

“It’s nice to meet you, William,” Barry said with a smile. “Your dads told me a lot about you.” 

“Like what?” William asked, almost in a challenge, the action reminding Barry too much of Oliver. 

“Well,” Barry started, dragging out the vowels. “He told me you really like math and science.” 

“I do,” William stated. 

“You know, I’m a scientist,” Barry said with a grin. “So, I like science too.” 

Williams jaw dropped comically and he pulled Barry by the hand into his room. Barry looked back at Oliver with a surprised grin on his face, and Oliver couldn’t help but feel extremely overjoyed in that singular second, finding the feeling incomparable to anything he had ever felt in his life before that moment. 

“You’re a scientist!” William exclaimed, and Barry wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement, but he nodded regardless. “My dad got me this book about science facts, look!” 

And he pulled Barry to sit beside him on his bed, excitedly showing off his science book to him. Oliver moved further into the room, too, placing William’s sandwich on his desk table and leaning against the wall as he watched his son and boyfriend talk animatedly about scientific facts that he had little to no knowledge of. The sight of it warmed his heart in a way he never thought possible. Almost as if the sun itself found a way inside his body and cast light over his heart. 

“Will, your mom said you weren’t eating your lunch,” Oliver said a few moments later when the scientific pair had considerably quieted down their conversation. 

“I wasn’t hungry,” William said, not looking up from his book. 

“I bet the Flash eats all his meals,” Oliver said in a teasing undertone. 

Barry’s eyes shot up at that and he looked at Oliver slightly confused. It took a second for his eyes to roam over William’s room to see plenty of Flash figurines and stickers, including a Flash backpack. Oliver almost regretted making the comment, but Barry would have seen William’s Flash merchandise anyway. Instead, he just rolled his eyes at Barry’s instant enthusiasm. 

“You like the Flash, William?” Barry asked him. 

William looked up at him and nodded. “He’s my favorite superhero,” he told Barry. 

“Oh, he’s your _favorite?”_ Barry asked, in an obviously teasing jab at Oliver, and looked at his boyfriend with a very cheeky grin. 

“Shut up,” Oliver said, shaking his head, but a small smile on his own face. 

“Oliver says you know him!” William added in an exclamation as if he had suddenly just remembered this fact. “He said his friend Barry knows the Flash! This is Barry, right Oliver?” 

“Yeah, buddy, this is him,” Oliver said, giving Barry a sheepish smile. 

“So you really know him? You know the Flash?” William asked Barry, practically jumping with each question. 

Barry nodded. “Yeah, I do,” Barry said seriously. “He’s a friend of mine. Listen, I'll tell you all about him, but he would want me to make sure you eat your lunch first.” 

“I’ll eat it, I’ll eat it!” William said, bouncing off his bed and to the sandwich on his desk. 

Oliver looked back at Barry with his eyebrows raised, giving him an expression that showed he was impressed with how he managed to do that. Barry just shrugged and stood up to stand next to Oliver. “What can I say?” Barry whispered into Oliver’s ear. “The Flash just has a way with kids.” 

“You’re gonna brag about this forever now, aren’t you?” Oliver responded in a whisper. 

“Probably. It’s undecided right now,” Barry said with a grin. “But, if I’m being honest, I don’t think it’s looking too good for you.” 

“I’m finished, Barry!” William said, jumping out of his chair and standing in front of his father and Barry. “Will you tell me about the Flash now?” 

“You got it, little man,” Barry said with a smile, sitting back down on William’s bed as the eleven-year-old brought various different Flash figurines to show Barry. 

Barry and Oliver spent the whole afternoon with William. It was an interesting few hours, as Oliver mostly watched as Barry and William talked about everything from physics to biology and of course, The Flash. By the time it was almost seven p.m., it was time to leave. As the couple stood by the door, thanking Samantha for letting them come over, William sprung forward and engulfed Oliver’s torso in a hug once again. 

“Thanks for bringing Barry here, dad, I really liked hanging out with him,” William said, his face pressed into Oliver’s lower abdomen. 

Oliver felt something inside him shift but was unable to place it. It was a warm and welcomed feeling. He never wanted to let it go. 

“You’re welcome, buddy,” Oliver said, a soft smile on his face as he and Samantha shared a knowing look. “I’ll bring him back whenever you want.” 

“You know, Will, I live in Central City, too,” Barry said as William moved away from Oliver. “If you ever want help with your science or math homework, just have your mom call me and I’ll be there in a flash,” he grinned with a wink at the younger boy. 

William grinned back at him. “Thank you,” he said, and moved forward to give him a quick hug too, which Barry gratefully accepted. 

When Oliver and Barry walked out of the house, it took Barry several seconds to realize that Oliver was not walking beside him to the car Oliver’s company had sent him to get around. He looked back to see that Oliver was standing at the gate of the house, his expression slightly distant, but not in a bad way, and he was looking back at the house. 

“Ollie?” Barry asked tentatively, taking a step closer. “You okay?” 

Oliver looked back at Barry, a small smile on his face, but his expression warm and his eyes soft. “That was the first time he called me ‘dad,’” Oliver said simply. And then he let out a soft laugh. “Wow.” 

Barry smiled back at him, equally warm. He clasped his hand with Oliver’s gently. “I think he’s the luckiest boy in the world.” 

Oliver shook his head. “No,” he said. “I am.” And he held onto Barry’s hand a little tighter. 

*** 

“You know, you said something yesterday when we were doing something very similar to this,” Barry said to Oliver, his finger tracing patterns on the other man’s naked torso as they lay in front of the fireplace of Barry’s loft, their legs tangled together and a stack of pillows supporting their heads. 

Oliver hummed as pressed soft kisses to Barry’s head. “What did I say?” 

Barry looked up; his face so close to Oliver’s from where his head rested on the archer’s shoulder. “Well, it’s really what you _almost_ said,” Barry said, his voice dropping to a lower tone, his eyes lazily looking into his boyfriend’s. 

“And what did I _almost_ say?” Oliver asked. 

“You almost called me _baby,”_ Barry said, a devilish smile sneaking its way onto his face. “I have to say … I'm a little disappointed you never said it again.” 

Oliver smirked. “If I'm hearing this correctly, I think you’re trying to tell me you want me to call you by a ridiculously cheesy pet name.” 

“You don’t have to call me by a ridiculously cheesy pet name _all_ the time,” Barry claimed innocently. “Maybe just in bed.” 

“Oh yeah?” Oliver asked, already feeling prepared for the challenge. 

“We could practice it right now,” said the younger man, and he moved his legs to straddle Oliver’s torso, the blanket covering his lower half effectively falling out. 

Oliver almost thanked not only the universe, but the Speed Force, and everything that had anything to do with bringing Barry Allen into his life. But he didn’t. Instead, he called his boyfriend by a ridiculously cheesy pet name. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this wasn't as good as my usual stuff, and is more of a filler chapter. However, that just means we're getting closer to the real angsty stuff. Also, I wrote a chapter by chapter summary of what each chapter will be like in my notes on my phone, and it makes me laugh every time I open it because the way I summarize things for myself kills me. I might post it as a bonus chapter after the fic is finished if you guys want. i just wanted to tell you that I make myself laugh. that is all. hope you enjoyed this. take care xxx


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the father/boyfriend talk is awkward. Sometimes Oliver gets freaked out, too. And sometimes, Barry can actually handle situations better than he thinks.

“You ready for this, Queen?” Barry asked as he and Oliver walked up the West household driveway. “Meeting the family, it’s a real commitment, you know, wouldn’t want to just walk in unprepared.” 

Oliver stopped halfway up their walk and held Barry by the arm, his expression stoic. 

“Too soon to be making jokes, huh?” Barry asked sheepishly after looking at his boyfriend’s expression. 

“Little bit, yeah,” Oliver agreed. 

Barry smiled awkwardly. “Okay, I’m sorry,” he said. “Humor helps me feel less bad about my own mistakes,” he shrugged as they walked up to the door. “And about life in general,” he added in a mumble. They stood outside the front door of the house, side by side. 

Oliver put a hand on Barry’s back and stroked it. “Relax,” he said, his expression straight and his posture even straighter. “We’ll be fine.” 

Barry looked at him, then, an eyebrow quirked in amusement. “We?” 

“We’re in this together, aren’t we?” Oliver asked in return, looking back at Barry and matching his expression. 

“Always,” Barry said simply, then moved forward and rung the bell. “Not gonna lie, it feels kind of weird ringing the bell.” 

The door opened before Oliver could respond, not that he was going to, anyway. “Hey, guys,” Iris said as she opened the door, a bright smile on her face. “You’re surprisingly on time, for once,” she added with a pointed look at Barry. 

“No thanks to him,” Oliver said with a smile, clapping Barry’s back. “For someone with all the time in the world, you’d think he’d procrastinate a little less.” 

“Hey -” Barry let out in protest. 

“Tell me about it,” Iris said in agreement, cutting him off with a lazy eye roll as she moved aside to let the couple through the door. “Have you watched him put his shoes on? It’s like watching a toddler try to tie their laces by themselves.” 

“He’s also surprisingly thorough when it comes to picking an outfit,” Oliver added with a nod, shrugging off his coat. 

“Are you guys done dissecting my tardiness?” Barry interjected. He took off his own coat as he said, “Just because you two are bonding doesn’t mean it has to be over making fun of me,” with a pout. 

Oliver chuckled and gave Barry a quick peck on his cheek. “Okay, sorry baby,” Oliver murmured to Barry, but Barry knew Iris caught it because her eyebrows went slightly upward, but she didn’t give any other indication she heard. 

Together, the three of them walked into the living room after Barry and Oliver had hung up their coats. Joe was already on his feet when they walked in, and standing slightly awkwardly in the middle of the room, a slight grimace on his face that Barry just assumed he was trying to turn pass as a smile. 

Iris moved to stand next to Joe who didn’t move until she gave him a not-so-subtle nudge with his shoulder. 

“Barry, Queen,” Joe said at once after the push from Iris. He moved closer to the pair. 

“Dad,” Iris said in an undertone, a clear warning. Barry, on the other hand, cringed slightly as he awkwardly eyed Oliver. 

Oliver gave a polite but forced smile. Barry doubted that anyone besides him knew it was forced, though. Regardless, Oliver held out his hand to Joe. “Detective West, good to see you,” he said to the older man. 

Joe eyed Oliver wearily and almost reluctantly shook the archer’s hand. “Not sure if I can say the same, just yet,” Joe admitted, pulling back his hand. “But my kids seem to think you’re worth an afterthought, especially this one over here,” he said with a nod towards Barry. “So, I’m willing to get to know you better if it means he stays as happy as he’s been lately.” 

Oliver looked at Joe with surprise, not expecting him to say that. “I -” he paused. “Thank you. I know I haven’t given you much reason to think I’m worth anything, but all I care about is Barry’s happiness. I hope you can give me a chance to prove that I’d never hurt him.” 

Joe nodded slowly. He looked at Barry who was watching Oliver speak, knowing the look in his son’s eyes meant he was falling more and more for the man Joe had once believed to be excessively dangerous. But this was a different Oliver than the one Joe first met three years ago. This Oliver was evidently falling for Barry just as much as Barry was falling for him. He seemed sincere, genuine. He seemed to really care about the speedster. He seemed like he was worth getting a chance to prove himself. 

“Good,” was all Joe said. “Let’s eat,” he added after a moment, nodding towards the dining table where four places were set. 

Joe wasn’t an idiot. He always knew the effect Oliver Queen had on his son. He’d known it from the first day that the Arrow came to Central City. Hell, he knew it from the first time Barry spoke about the vigilante of Starling City and how cool he was. It was like the older man had an electric hook on his son that didn’t seem to be dissipating anytime soon. It only grew stronger and stronger over the years as the two grew closer. It was surprisingly easy for them to become such fast friends, despite how they were polar opposites. That might have been the reason they were so compatible, as friends and even as boyfriends. Joe just hoped that whatever came of this, it would be good for Barry. That’s all he’s ever wanted since he took him in. 

“Isn’t Wally joining us?” Barry asked looking at the table. 

Iris shook her head. “He’s got class today. Easy to forget he’s actually in college sometimes.” 

Barry snorted. “At least he actually goes to his classes,” he said looking at Iris with his eyebrows raised and a teasing smirk on his face. 

“What does that mean?” Joe asked, looking between Barry and Iris. 

Iris opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Barry beat her to it. “Just that Iris should have been a bit more dedicated to _her_ college classes like Wally instead of … well … other things.” 

Iris gave a forced, fake laugh and smacked Barry on the chest. “If you don’t shut up, you’re going to make me reveal some secrets of my own,” she told him, a threatening finger wagging at him as he just stuck his tongue out at her. 

“We’ll talk about that later,” Joe said already sounding defeated. “I’m going to get lunch out.” 

“I wouldn’t mind hearing some of those _secrets_ ,” Oliver said to Iris as Joe left the room, a wicked smile on his face. Iris thought it made him look ten years younger. 

Barry’s eyes widened and he immediately stepped in between the two. “No, no absolutely not,” he said at once. “Iris, you say anything and I’ll tell Joe what really happened to his car, senior year of high school.” 

“Oh,” Iris said with surprise. “You wanna go there? Okay, I’ll raise you one, let me tell Oliver any _one_ thing, or I’ll tell Joe about what was really under the loose floorboard in your room.” 

Barry looked at Iris with actual venom at that. “You’re - you are more evil than you let on,” he said. 

“Alright, lasagna is ready,” Joe said walking back into the room, oven mitts on and a steaming dish in his hands, the aroma of which was already filling the atmosphere. 

“Saved by the Joe,” Barry said with a grin. 

“I’m sure there’ll be time later,” Oliver said with a wink to her. 

“Ha,” Iris said with glee. “Looks like your own boyfriend is conspiring against you.” 

Barry rolled his eyes and took his seat at the table, Oliver laughing as he sat beside him. As they all began to dig in, Joe struck up a conversation with Oliver. If he was here for an official introduction as Barry’s boyfriend, he was going to talk to him as such. 

“So, Queen,” Joe started, but then looked up and immediately was met with Iris’s pointed gaze. Joe cleared his throat. “Oliver, I mean,” he tried again. “How’s the company?” 

Barry snorted. “That’s such a grown-up question,” he said in an undertone, mostly to himself, but everyone heard it. Iris rolled her eyes, and Joe disregarded it completely. Oliver just looked at him with a shake of his head. 

“It’s … difficult to manage with my -” he cleared his throat awkwardly. “Night job,” he continued. “But I’m trying my best to honor my family’s legacy. It’s easier now than it was when I first started, actually, now that Thea is working with me and retired from the vigilante life. She keeps it pretty grounded.” 

Joe nodded half-heartedly. “Not to dampen your... enthusiasm, but don’t you need a college degree to be the CEO of a company?” 

Oliver let out a hard chuckle, while Iris and Barry looked at Joe pointedly. “I would think so,” he started. “Lucky for me I went to four colleges. For Thea, she pretty much grew up a lot faster than she had to. I think I’m partially to blame for that,” Oliver said softly, not looking into anyone’s eyes in particular but still sharing his thoughts on Joe’s question. “A lot of burdens fell onto her shoulders in the five years I was … away. I guess she had to start believing the company would get passed on to her if I wasn’t there. She was also able to manage a nightclub before she turned nineteen all by herself, and I think she’s a lot more passionate about working than she lets on. But for me, the board doesn’t expect much most of the time. It's fun to watch them sputter when they realize I actually know a lot more about business than I let on.” 

Joe nodded, listening patiently to what the younger man had to say. Barry placed a gentle hand on Oliver’s knee under the table and squeezed as if to say ‘you’re doing great.’ 

“You care a lot for your sister,” Joe said in observation. 

Oliver nodded, then, looking him in the eye. “Very much so,” he agreed. “She’s the most important person in my life. I would be at a lack of having much to fight for without my sister.” 

“I can relate to that,” Barry said, looking up at Iris with a smile. “Even though my sister is probably more annoying than yours.” 

Iris stuck her tongue out at Barry across the table but smiled afterward. “Well, Oliver must be a more patient brother.” 

“You clearly don’t know him if you think he’s patient,” Barry said with a snort. Oliver looked at Barry at that, an eyebrow cocked perfectly. “Sorry,” Barry said with a laugh upon seeing the look on his boyfriend’s face. “You know it’s true.” 

There was a comfortable silence for a moment as everyone ate their food. It was broken by Joe who decided he wasn’t done with the interrogation. “You’ve never been in a serious relationship before, correct?” 

“I’m certain there was a better way to put that, but okay,” Iris muttered in one breath, looking nervously at Barry and then at Oliver. 

Oliver seemed nervous himself as he looked down and answered Joe’s question. “Uh, yes, that is mostly true, I think.” 

“And each time you _were_ in a relationship, it was with a woman,” Joe stated plainly. 

“That’s … also true, yes,” Oliver said, still looking down. 

“So, with that in mind, what makes you think you’re capable of being in a relationship with Barry?” Joe asked, his eyes staring straight at Oliver, not giving him a chance to back out of the question. There was a seriousness to his tone that demanded an explanation on his behalf, and silence overtook the dinner table as everyone held their breath, not sure what would happen next. 

Oliver took a moment to think about it, but surely and steadily, looked up and met Joe’s eyes, not wavering or even slightly afraid. “With all due respect, I think that my relationship with Barry is one for us to figure out together,” Oliver began calmly. “But, if you’re looking for an answer of what makes me think I’m capable of being in an adult relationship with a man, then I’ll tell you. I don’t think I’m worthy of even half the respect, trust, and consideration that Barry gives me. In fact, I know I’m probably not. But I’ve had feelings for Barry for years. This relationship isn’t something I’m scared of or worried about. I know how he makes me feel, and that is safe … secure and … and happy. I feel instantly comfortable when he’s around, I have for years. That’s not a feeling I get very easily, and it’s not something I'm willing to let go of. When we started dating, it felt right. It felt like this is something we should have been doing for a long time. But I don’t think we were meant to start doing it until now, because I think now, we’re both ready for it, more than we would have been before.” 

Barry let out a shaky breath that he didn’t even know he was holding. He had to look away from Oliver because he didn’t want him to see how suddenly overwhelmed he felt with Oliver’s feelings for him, even though he knew them on some level or the other. It was a lot to take in when someone you’re dating openly professes how much they notice and care about you to your family. It was additionally a lot to digest when that person you’re dating is Oliver Queen and known to have not been good with proclamations of feelings or emotions in general. 

“Wow,” Iris let out eventually when no one else spoke. “I think that’s … that’s a really good answer, Oliver.” Oliver and Barry both looked up at Iris who sat across Barry, Joe still looking strangely at Oliver. “I’m not going to lie,” she continued. “I was slightly hesitant too when Barry first told me about it. I always knew he had feelings for you, but a part of me also hoped that you wouldn’t let him down … you know, given you’re - uh – history.” 

Oliver chuckled and looked down, and Barry looked at him with a smile, being the one to reach out this time around and holding his hand under the table. 

“He could never let me down,” Barry stated, speaking more to Oliver than anyone else at the moment. Oliver looked up and met Barry’s eyes, a tender smile slowly spread across his face, almost as if it was unconsciously finding its way there. 

“I’m sure that’s not entirely true, but thank you for your trust in me,” Oliver said softly, squeezing the other man’s hand still held over his. “And I don’t intend to ever let you down,” he said a little louder. “I don’t,” he affirmed, looking towards Joe and Iris, giving them each a sure nod, his eyes bearing the truth of his promise. 

There wasn’t much conversation afterward, and when there was, it wasn’t about Oliver and Barry’s relationship, much to Barry’s gratefulness. They finished their meals and moved over to the lounge, sitting around each other; Joe in his armchair, Iris on the other across him over the coffee table, and Barry and Oliver side by side on the couch in the middle, only their knees touching. 

“So,” Joe said at last. “I’m not gonna lie, I don’t like you,” he said, wagging his index finger in a very ‘dad’ manner, the way he usually did with his kids, and occasionally with Cisco and Caitlin at Star Labs. “But … you make my boy happy, and at the end of the day, that’s what matters most to me. So, all I’ll tell you is,” he leaned forward and looked Oliver right in the eye. “You treat him right, and you keep him safe. Otherwise, the Star City Police Department might accidentally get an anonymous tip that Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow.” 

Iris and Barry both looked at Joe with wide eyes, letting out immediate protests. 

“Dad, oh my god,” Iris said, a hand moving to hold her forehead like she was embarrassed at her father’s words. 

“You’re … joking right?” Barry said unsurely, looking at Joe with apprehension. 

Oliver, on the other hand, just chuckled softly and genuinely. “I will keep that in mind,” he said with a grin. “I can imagine three investigations would be the cut off for me trying to get away with my secret.” 

At that, Joe actually cracked a smile of his own; genuinely. “Glad to hear it,” Joe said. 

The conversation was smooth after that. There was no lingering tension or awkwardness. Barry was glad that Oliver knew how to handle himself, and more importantly; how to charm parents. There was a new comfort in the way they all talked now, with Iris and Joe exchanging stories of Barry’s most embarrassing stories from high school, with Barry either groaning at the tales or shushing them with a threatening look in his eyes when Iris tried to recall the really bad ones. Oliver seemed to be enjoying himself – there was a look of glee on his face as he laughed at Barry’s expense, feeling at ease with his surroundings. 

That is, until Barry’s phone started beeping with an alert from Star Labs. 

Barry pulled out his phone, a new look of concentration and seriousness overtaking him at once. “It’s Cisco, there’s something happening at Jitters,” he told the room, his eyes scanning each of their faces as he began to rise from his seat. 

“Go,” Iris said immediately. “We’re right behind you.” She, too, started getting up from her seat as did Joe and finally, Oliver. 

Barry looked at her and then at Oliver, almost asking him if it was okay to leave him behind with just his eyes. “We’re right behind you,” Oliver nodded, and Barry ran. 

He got to STAR Labs, finding Cisco and Caitlin behind the screens in the cortex. “What’s the situation?” he asked, already in his suit. 

“It’s the other speedster. Looks like he’s finally out to play,” Cisco told him, meeting his eyes after focusing on the screen. Cisco displayed the security camera footage onto the larger screen next to Barry and the three of them watched as Black Flash stood in the middle of the coffee shop, looking directly into the camera as people around him were running in fear. 

“Why is he just standing there like that?” Caitlin asked, her expression looking almost disturbed. “It’s like he’s …” she trailed off. 

“Waiting,” Barry said somberly. “For me.” 

And he ran in the direction of the café. “Be careful,” a voice said into his ear through the comms, belonging to Caitlin. “You don’t know what he’s capable of yet.” 

“Let’s find out, then,” Barry replied, and he could almost see Caitlin’s worried expression at his response, knowing she wouldn’t ever approve of his impulsiveness. 

Barry got to Jitters and came to a halt. Black Flash turned to face him. His face looked like that of a zombie's. It almost terrified Barry to look at him. 

“Flash,” said the zombie-looking speedster. “I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve been watching you. You come here a lot, don’t you? I can sense it.” 

“Well, I’m here,” Barry responded. “You’ve got my attention. What do you want?” 

Black Flash didn’t move. He looked at Barry and his head tilted more and more to the side as if he were observing him from a different angle. 

“I want what you took from me,” Black Flash retorted, and he moved so fast, Barry barely saw it coming. He knocked right into Barry’s torso, sending him through the glass door of the entrance. 

“Barry!” a voice came into the comms, this voice belonging to Iris. “Are you okay?” 

Barry got up, shaking the glass off him and standing upright again. “I’m fine,” he said. He ran towards Black Flash and tried knocking into him the way he was hit, but the other speedster deflected it easily. The two had a back-and-forth spar for a brief minute, though it felt like longer in their speed-sphere. 

Eventually, when Barry got several hits in, Black Flash made a run for it, to which Barry chased after him. He ran after the speedster for several blocks, finding he was actually as fast as him, and it still felt like Barry was holding back. If he really tried to put his mind to running a little faster, Barry was certain he could beat him and catch him. Just when he did that, he ran close enough to Black Flash and yanked him back from his shoulder where the two ran over a building. 

The other speedster fell across the rooftop and lay on the ground for a moment, his chest heaving. Barry cautiously approached him, ready to fight him again if necessary. But just as Barry got a foot away from him, the other speedster got up at once. He stood across Barry and grinned at him wickedly, his teeth just as discolored and distorted as a zombie would be in actuality. 

“I’m going to take back what you took from me, Flash, one way or another,” Black Flash said. 

“I don’t even know what that -” Barry didn’t get to complete his sentence, because the other speedster disappeared. Literally into thin air. Astounded, Barry looked around, trying to figure out how he kept doing that. “Means,” he finished quietly. 

When he got back to Star Labs, his cowl down and disappointment on his face, everyone was gathered in the cortex, waiting for him. 

“So, this guy keeps getting creepier and creepier the more we see him,” Cisco concluded, his own expression somber despite his joke. 

“Tell me about it,” Barry said, defeated. He threw himself into one of the chairs in the cortex, rubbing his forehead with his hand as his team considered the other speedster's motives. 

“The way he moves … his lightning is actually _black_ ,” Caitlin said in consideration. “We’ve never seen anything like it, not even with Reverse Flash or Hunter Zolomon.” 

“The way he talks isn’t any less terrifying,” Joe added. 

“Seriously creepy,” Iris agreed with a shudder. 

There was a brief silence, and Barry was deep in thought, not even registering the conversation. His mind was a whirlwind of confusion, worry, and evaluations. He tried to recall any instance from his past that might have indicated Black Flash had a bone to pick with Barry of all people. His brain was throwing thought after thought at him, keeping him too occupied to listen in to the current conversation at hand. 

“What did he mean?” Oliver piped up after a moment of silence. “Barry?” 

Barry’s mind pressed an automatic pause button on his thoughts to focus on his boyfriend’s voice. It was like an instant reaction, easily jolting him out of his reverie. “Huh?” he asked, unclear. 

“When he said … ‘I want what you took from me,’ what did he mean?” Oliver asked, concern evident on his face as he looked at Barry, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. 

The rest of the team quieted at that, too, looking from Oliver to Barry, having found the former’s question to be a good one. 

Barry shook his head, a frown on his own face. “I don’t know,” Barry admitted. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. There must have been something I did to him – past me or … or I don’t know – future me?” he started getting more and more worked up with each word, rising from his chair, his hands flying around him as he tried to connect the dots. “That’s why Thawne hated me right? Because of some feud he and I had in the future, so – so maybe it’s that? I don’t - I can’t figure it out. I’ve never seen any speedster with his lightning and his … his _face,_ it was like nothing I have ever seen before.” 

“There’s a lot we still have to understand about this speedster,” Caitlin said slowly after a silence took over the room again. Even HR didn’t have anything to say for once. “We need to look at this cautiously. It's not exactly easy to figure out what this speedster is when it seems like he’s not even completely … here.” 

Iris nodded. “Caitlin’s right,” she said. “The way this speedster disappears into thin air, it’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before.” 

“What about other metas that we’ve caught before who were able to disappear like that on command?” Joe interjected; his face scrunched up like he was in thought. 

“Like Peek-a-Boo, you mean?” Cisco asked him in return. He shook his head, then. “She was still appearing somewhere else, and that too, places within her line of vision. She couldn’t just disappear at will into nothingness like our zombie friend here.” 

“I was totally thinking zombie, too, man,” Barry said to Cisco, his voice surprisingly lighter already. 

“Please tell me it was the zombies from _Dawn of the Dead,_ and not _World War Z_ otherwise we aren’t friends anymore, Barry Allen,” Cisco responded, a grin erupting on his own face. 

“I was thinking more like _Braindead,_ you know it was really creepy,” Barry said, his voice so conversational that it was almost like they weren’t just talking about some strange force that attacked Barry and then disappeared into nothing. It left Oliver completely bewildered. He looked around the room, trying to gauge everyone else’s expressions, but found that he was the only one surprised in this turn of conversation. Iris and Caitlin exchanged an exasperated look while Joe just rolled his eyes. HR looked like he was totally into the conversation. 

“Boys,” Caitlin said in a half-hearted reprimand. “If you’re done.” 

“Is this what all of your investigations are like?” Oliver asked, perplexed. 

Barry looked at him, and his expression softened considerably. He walked a little closer to Oliver and placed a hand on his arm. “Don’t worry,” he told him. “We’ll figure it out.” 

Oliver opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again, changing his mind it seemed. It wasn’t his place to tell Barry how to run his team or catch his villains. He looked down for a moment, trying to think of what to say. “Alright,” was what he went with. He looked back up at Barry and smiled at him. “If this is your process, I guess.” 

“Just part of it,” Iris said to Oliver, a cheeky smile on her face. “They’re probably going to have a zombie movie marathon now just for the sake of this conversation. Afterward, they’ll make a few more references that no one understands, and then _maybe_ they’ll get serious.” 

Oliver’s eyebrows raised as he took in her words. “Wow,” he let out. “That’s … an interesting way to deal with stuff.” 

Barry grinned at Cisco. “A zombie movie marathon sounds so awesome.” 

“Maybe we can get Caitlin to join us this time,” Cisco added, and the two of them looked at their friend with big grins on their faces. 

“Absolutely not,” Caitlin said, not even looking at them. “I already told you that wouldn’t happen again after you made me watch six hours of those Star Wars movies.” 

“Worth it,” Cisco said more to himself than anyone. 

They all went their separate ways after a little bit of discussion on what to do if Black Flash showed up again, and promises to Barry that they would call him in case anything happened or any activity was seen. 

*** 

“You’ve been quiet,” Barry observed when he and Oliver were back at his apartment. Oliver had just said goodbye to Joe and Iris, as he was leaving in a few hours and probably wouldn’t see them again for a while. 

Oliver gave him a half-smile and shook his head. “Just … surprised by the way you handle your … problems, I guess.” 

Barry took a few steps closer to Oliver and put his arms around his waist. “Sorry, should we yell a bit more?” he said teasingly. “Maybe have a bit more angst?” 

Oliver grinned and rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay,” he said in mock-defeat. “I get it, we’re a little moody.” 

“A little, Ollie?” Barry asked, grinning himself. “You sure you don’t mean _very_ moody?” 

“Right,” he said as he pulled away from Barry, though he was still smiling. He perched himself on a chair by the kitchen counter. 

“What’s up?” Barry asked, noticing how the older man looked preoccupied with some inner thoughts. “What’s got you so ... Oliver-ry?” 

“Oh, my name’s an adjective now?” 

Barry hummed in response, moving closer to Oliver again and placing his hands on either of his boyfriend’s shoulders. “You wanna blame anyone for that, then blame Felicity. She created it,” he said. “But seriously,” he continued, nudging Oliver with his hands a bit. “What’re you thinking? Don’t hide from me.” 

Oliver looked into Barry’s eyes and felt his walls crumbling. It was something he wasn’t used to so much. He wrapped his arms around Barry’s waist as he thought about it. “I guess …” he started, trying to figure out how to say what he was thinking without sounding too much like an over-protective boyfriend. “I guess I’m just … worried.” 

Barry’s eyebrows shot up. “Worried? About what?” 

Oliver shrugged. “I don’t know … I’ve never actually seen what you guys go up against. Until now I used to think Central City was all sunshine and rainbows where villains and metahumans get cute nicknames. I guess seeing Black Flash for the first time really freaked me out. And to see you guys handling it so … calmly … like it’s - it’s a joke to you … it just worried me.” 

Barry nodded. He figured Oliver felt that way, but it was nice to actually hear him say it. “I get it,” he responded. “I mean, look, it’s not like we joke around _all_ the time. Sometimes it’s just … easier … dealing with stuff with a joke when we aren’t sure of how to go about handling something. You don’t have to be worried. We’re going to catch him and stop him before he can kill anyone else or do any actual damage.” 

“I hope you’re right,” Oliver said. He still looked worried. 

“I am,” Barry assured him. “We’ll figure it out. I promise.” 

Oliver nodded again. He gave Barry a small smile and Barry leaned down and kissed him. “Thank you for being worried, though,” Barry whispered against his lips as he pulled back. 

Oliver kissed him again. And if he deepened their kiss to the point where Oliver picked Barry up and dropped him onto the couch, eventually climbing on top of him as he discarded his shirt all for a way to stop thinking about how worried he really was for his boyfriend, well, then, no one had to know. 

*** 

Oliver handed his bag to the attendant as he and Barry stood at the Aviation ramp, waiting for the pilot to indicate they were ready to take off. “So, this was an interesting trip,” Oliver said as he turned to Barry. 

“Sorry that it wasn’t as great as it could have been. I know I’m mostly to blame for that,” Barry replied, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, not meeting Oliver’s eyes. 

“Stop,” Oliver said. He moved closer to Barry and placed one hand on the side of the speedster’s face. “It was great. It was rocky, but it felt … normal. Normal couples have rocky weekends, too. Right?” 

Barry chuckled. “Right,” he agreed. “I hope you had fun, anyway.” 

Oliver nodded, moving his hand from Barry’s face to his shoulder, then down his arm to his hand. “I did,” he promised. “And the sex wasn’t so bad, either,” he added in a lower voice. 

Barry let out a bigger laugh at that. “The sex was _great,”_ he said with a grin. “And not enough, either, if I’m being honest,” he said with a wag of his eyebrows. 

Oliver let out a huffed laugh. “Okay, you’re a speedster with great stamina, Barry, I get it,” he said jokingly. “But we’ve got time for more,” he said, a smirk forming on his face. 

“I should hope so, buddy,” Barry said, his grin still imminent. 

“We’re ready to go, Mr. Queen,” the attendant informed him from behind Oliver. 

Oliver nodded as he turned to face him. “Thank you, I’ll be right there.” 

The attendant left and Oliver turned back to Barry. “Is it weird that I’m actually going to miss you, even though you were here just two nights?” 

“Not as weird as I feel leaving right now,” Oliver added in agreement. They both looked at each other, not saying anything, but both feeling something deeper than what was being said. After a few seconds of silence, Oliver spoke. “I love you,” he blurted out. 

Barry’s eyes went wide. “What?” he asked in a voice just above a whisper. 

“I’m sorry,” Oliver said at once. “I know it freaks you out, and I’m sorry, but I needed to say it,” he told him, holding both his hands, now. “I love you, and you don’t have to say it back, but you just had to know.” 

Barry didn’t say anything, less for actually having nothing to respond with, and more for being stunned to the point where he was completely speechless. 

“I have to go,” Oliver said to him when he realized Barry wasn’t about to say anything. “See you soon,” he leaned forward and gave Barry a kiss on his cheek. And then he was gone before Barry even realized what had happened. 

*** 

When Oliver got to his apartment, it was already dark outside. The days were ending sooner now that winter was around the corner. He shrugged off his jacket and ran a hand through his hair. He was so completely lost in a daze of his own, that he didn’t even notice he wasn’t alone in his apartment. He blinked a few times to clear his mind but finding that he wasn’t hallucinating he accepted that the person he saw in front of him was really who he thought it was. 

“Barry?” Oliver asked in confusion. “What are you doing here?” 

The younger man was leaning against the couch in front of Oliver, hands deep in his pockets. “I … well,” he rubbed the back of his neck, the way he did when he was being extra awkward or trying to figure out how to say something. “It took me about forty seconds after your plane disappeared in the sky for me to realize what you said, and then another minute or so for me to realize you left without me saying something to _you.”_

Oliver walked a little closer and shook his head, crossing his arms. “No - you don’t have to -” he tried, but Barry cut him off. 

“Just … hear me out for a second,” Barry said, coming closer to Oliver, too, and placing a gentle hand on his arm. “I thought it would freak me out too, and maybe it did for a minute, and I’ve been sitting here an hour trying to muster up the courage to say it, but the truth is that I don’t need to muster it up because it’s more apparent than anything I’ve ever known. There’s really only one conclusion I always come to, and that is that I love you, too, Oliver Queen.” 

Oliver looked at Barry in wonderment. He didn’t say anything, though. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t say it back immediately,” Barry went on. “I had to take a second – mainly because it was surprising for me to witness Oliver Queen being romantic firsthand.” 

Oliver rolled his eyes and grinned, looking down for a moment. “I can be romantic if I want, Barr,” he said softly. 

“I know,” Barry said, equally soft. His eyes were twinkling. If someone asked him to pinpoint the exact moment he fell in love with Oliver, he would have no answer, because the truth was that he was probably already in love with him from the first time they met. “I love you,” he said again, holding both of Oliver’s arms now. “I love you so much that sometimes when you’re not around it’s - it’s hard to breathe. I - I don’t say the right thing sometimes and I mess up so much when it comes to stuff like relationships … but if there’s anything I know at all, it’s that what I feel for you if nothing I’ve ever felt before and I just - I just want to feel as much of it as I can. As much as we’re allowed.” 

Oliver let out a deep breath. He placed his hands on either side of Barry’s face, his thumb slowly tracing a random pattern on his skin. “You, Barry Allen,” he started off slowly. “Are everything.” 

And then he kissed him like his life depended on it. Maybe it did. Either way, he didn't care. Neither did Barry. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take care xx


End file.
